c.s.zz 


3Frmtt  li|p  ICibrarg  nf 

l?qupatl|p&  by  l)tm  to 

tl|0  ICtbrary  of 

PrtnrftDH  SJi^oln^tral  S^rmtnary 

BX  5937  .L3  V5 
Lawrence,  William,  1850- 

1941  . 
Visions  and  service 


VISIONS  AND  SERVICE 


FOURTEEN  DISCOURSES  DELIVERED 
IN  COLLEGE  CHAPELS 


7. 


WILLIAM   LAWRENCE 

BISHOP    OF   MASSACHUSETTS 


BOSTON  AND   NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND   COMPANY 


Copyright,  1896, 
By  WILLIAM   LAWRENCE. 

All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.  S.A, 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  &  Co. 


TO 

MY    WIFE 

1    INSCRIBE   THIS  VOLUME 


$ 


NOTE 

A  RESIDENCE  of  ten  years  in  Cambridge 
under  the  shadow  of  its  great  University 
binds  one  to  the  students  with  strong  ties  of 
affection.  A  ma?i  cannot  come  into  contact  with 
them  daily  without  gaijiing  confidence  in  their 
high  purpose,  respect  for  their  character,  sym- 
pathy iti  their  doubts  and  tenptatiofis,  and  a 
reverence  for  their  love  of  truth,  their  chivalry 
and  their  simple  faith.  Many  of  the  intel- 
lectual and  religious  problems  which  they  en- 
counter ca?i  be  fought  out  only  by  hard  thinking 
and  deep  discussion.  But  zvhen  they  come  to 
Church  I  believe  they  want  to  hear  from  one 
who,  sympathizing  with  their  difficulties,  speaks 
the  most  simple,  sincere,  and  strong  words  of 
the  Christia7t  faith. 

In  the  earnest  hope  of  helping  to  a  firmer 
faith  and  a  higher  life  some  young  men  in 
Cambridge,  as  well  as  other  members  of  a  be- 
loved congregation,  the  words  in  this  volume 
were  spoken.  Perhaps  they  may  help  a  few 
at  a  distance. 


NOTE 

These  sermons  were  preached  by  me  while 
Dean  of  the  Episcopal  Theological  School  and 
also  Preacher  to  Harvard  University^  in  St. 
John's  Memorial  Chapel,  in  the  Chapel  of  the 
University,  and  in  other  Collegiate  Chapels. 

WILLIAM  LAWRENCE. 
Boston, /awwary  /,  iBqb. 

vi 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

I.   The  Young  Man's  Vision i 

II.  The  Challenge  of  Jesus 19 

III.  The  Fixedness  of  Character   ....  35 

IV.  The  Worth  of  One  Fact 53 

V.   A  Skilful  Defence 68 

VI.   The     Unchangeableness    and    the 

Changeableness  of  Faith    ....  85 

VII.   The  Priests'  Taunt 104 

VIII.  Three  Characters 122 

IX.  The  University  Man  in  Active  Life  .  138 

X.  Jesus  in  His  Own  City 156 

XI.   Heavenly-Mindedness 173 

XII.    Privilege  and  Helpfulness 189 

XIII.  A  Key-Note  of  College  Life    ....  202 

XIV.  A  Servant  of  His  Own  Generation     .  218 


VISIONS   AND   SERVICE 


THE    YOUNG    MAN's    VISION  ^ 

There  was  war  between  Syria  and 
Israel.  The  king  of  Syria  had  attempted 
to  surprise  the  camp  of  the  Israelites 
several  times,  but  on  each  occasion  the 
army  of  Israel  had  been  forewarned  and 
had  escaped. 

The  Syrian  king  suspected  those  in 
his  own  camp  of  treachery.  Upon  call- 
ing his  men  about  him,  however,  and 
asking  for  the  traitor,  he  was  told  that 
the  spy  was  not  among  his  followers. 
"  But,"  said  they,  "  Elisha,  the  prophet 
that  is  in  Israel,  telleth  the  King  of 
Israel  the  words  that  thou  speakest  in 
thy  bed-chamber." 

Such  a  magician  must  be  seized. 

"  Go  and   spy  where  he  is,"  was  the 

1  St.  John's  Memorial  Chapel,  Cambridge,  Sep- 
tember 29,  1S89. 

I 


THE   YOUNG  MAN'S   VISION 

command  of  the  Syrian  king.  Elisha 
was  at  Dothan,  with  a  young  man,  his 
servant.  The  expedition  for  the  capture 
sets  out  in  the  night  —  "  horses  and 
chariots  and  a  great  host"  —  and  sur- 
rounds Dothan.  In  the  early  morning 
the  servant  of  Elisha,  as  he  is  going  out 
of  the  house,  catches  sight  of  the  army 
about  the  city,  and  hurries  back  with  the 
cry,  "Alas,  my  master,  how  shall  we 
do  ? "  But  the  prophet,  though  unarmed 
and  with  only  one  panic-stricken  servant 
to  protect  him,  is  not  moved  by  the  host 
of  the  enemy.  "  Fear  not,"  he  says, 
"  for  they  that  be  with  us  are  more  than 
they  that  be  with  them." 

The  young  man  cannot  catch  his  mean- 
ing ;  he  sees  no  friendly  army,  no  horses 
or  chariots  marching  to  their  relief,  no- 
thing but  the  hostile  forces.  And  yet  the 
prophet  seems  to  have  some  power  some- 
where to  support  him.  "  And  Elisha 
prayed,  and  said.  Lord,  I  pray  thee  open 
his  eyes  that  he  may  see.  And  the  Lord 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  young  man  ;  and 
he  saw ;  and  behold  the  mountain  was 
full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  round 
about  Elisha."  ^ 

^  2  Kings  vi.  17. 
2 


THE  YOUNG   MAN'S   VISION 

There  was  a  power  there.  To  the  eye 
of  faith  the  heavenly  host  was  visible, 
standing  behind  and  around,  and  giving 
its  support. 

I  have  chosen  this  incident  for  our 
study,  this  morning,  because  it  seems 
to  suggest  some  thoughts  in  connection 
with  this  our  first  Sunday  of  the  open- 
ing term  of  school  and  college  ;  a  Sun- 
day which  has  a  significance  to  all  of 
us,  for  it  strikes  the  note  of  another 
year  of  routine  and  duty  in  home,  busi- 
ness, and  society. 

And  by  coincidence  there  is  a  special 
meaning  in  this  incident  to-day,  for  this 
Sunday  happens  to  fall  upon  the  Feast 
of  St.  Michael  and  all  Angels  ;  a  day 
when  the  church  lifts  up  her  eyes  to 
the  realization  of  the  heavenly  host, 
their  number,  their  power,  their  order, 
and  their  glory.  Michaelmas  is  the  title 
that  appropriately  marks  the  opening 
term  of  the  universities  of  England. 

Here,  in  the  scene,  we  have  a  young 
man  panic-stricken  at  the  power  of  the 
enemy,  led  by  the  prayer  of  the  older 
man  to  an  upward  look,  and  to  open  his 
eyes  to  the  heavenly  forces  that  were 
standing  ready  to  protect  and  fight  for 
3 


THE  YOUNG  MAN'S  VISION 

the  servant  of  God.  In  this,  we  catch 
the  first  thought,  that  the  forces,  limit- 
less in  number  and  power,  were  there, 
waiting  only  for  one  of  spiritual  vision 
to  reveal  them.  Perhaps  at  first  sight 
this  seems  unreal,  mystical,  and  unprac- 
tical. And  yet  is  it  not  similar  to  many 
phases  of  life  .'' 

It  is  a  commonplace,  for  instance,  that 
the  enormous  increase  in  men's  use  of 
the  forces  in  nature  is  not  due  to  man's 
creation,  but  to  his  discovery  of  what 
was  already  in  nature.  The  electric 
forces  which  are  now  at  work  in  our 
streets  and  homes,  and  which  are  caus- 
ing such  readjustment  of  our  habits  of 
life,  are  not  new  creations.  The  latent 
powers  were  there,  waiting  only  for  the 
patient  labor,  the  skill  and  the  scientific 
spirit  of  man  to  reveal  them  and  har- 
ness them  into  man's  service.  Or,  again, 
as  the  flood  of  young  and  eager  life 
poured  into  this  city  last  week,  they 
knew  that  in  the  library  and  lectures  and 
historic  heritages  here  are  storehouses 
of  knowledge  and  wisdom.  It  is  for  this 
they  have  come.  But  if  they  thought  at 
all,  they  must  have  realized  that  these 
riches  revealed  themselves  only  to  those 
4 


THE   YOUNG   MAN'S   VISION 

who  were  ready  to  open  their  eyes  to 
them,  and  by  patient  study  bring  them 
into  their  Hves. 

Now  the  question  arises  whether  there 
is  not  something  analogous  to  this  in  the 
realm  of  character  and  of  spiritual  things. 
Are  we  to  agree  that  there  are  limitless 
resources  in  nature  and  in  knowledge, 
and  deny  that  character  and  spiritual 
manhood  have  any  such  storehouse  ? 
Or,  are  we  to  accept  the  fact  that  the 
heavenly  powers  are,  and  that  they  stand 
ready  to  serve  any  man  who  will  discover 
them  and  call  them  to  his  aid  ? 

Here,  it  seems  to  me,  is  to  be  found 
the  dividing  line  between  those  who  are 
going  to  use  and  those  who  are  going  to 
misuse  the  coming  year, — whether  in 
college,  business,  or  the  home,  —  in  the 
question  whether  they  are  going  to  trust 
only  to  what  they  have,  their  present 
strength,  character,  social  position,  and 
money,  or  whether  they  are  going  to  live 
with  the  realization  that  there  are  infi- 
nite powers  of  character  and  spirit  be- 
hind and  above  them  ;  whether  they  are 
going  to  look  only  at  the  enemy,  the 
temptations  and  trials  of  life,  or  whether, 
with  the  power  of  those  realized,  they 
5 


THE   YOUNG   MAN'S   VISION 

are  going  to  seek  heavenly  strength  to 
defeat  them. 

It  is  here,  I  think,  that  the  talk  of 
college  temptations,  of  which  we  hear 
and  read  so  much,  reveals  a  weak  spot 
in  the  Christian  armor  of  to-day.  There 
is  in  it  something  of  the  panic-stricken 
servant,  "  Alas,  my  master,  how  shall  we 
do  ? "  There  are  college  temptations, 
we  know  too  well.  There  may  be  a  very 
few  dastardly  spirits  who  delight  in  lead- 
ing others  into  temptation.  There  are 
weak  youths  ;  and  —  must  we  say  it .-'  — 
there  are  weak  parents.  There  are  dan- 
gers enough  in  all  phases  of  life.  But 
what  the  Christian  thought  needs  to-day 
is,  with  the  realization  of  the  force  of  the 
enemy,  a  far  stronger  faith  in  the  force 
of  character ;  the  upward  look,  the  con- 
viction that  if  a  man  will  only  set  him- 
self to  see  into  and  call  down  those 
heavenly  powers  to  his  aid,  he  has  a  rein- 
forcement which  is  able  to  overcome  any 
temptation. 

What  are  these  forces  ?    Let  me  name 
a  few  :  they  are  familiar  to  our  ears,  but 
not  familiar  enough  in  our  personal  ex- 
perience.    There  is,  as  the  fundamental 
6 


THE   YOUNG   MAN'S   VISION 

power,  the  truth  that  God  is  ;  that  the 
Almighty,  the  Jehovah,  the  Heavenly 
Father,  now  lives  and  works  and  loves. 
Perhaps  we  do  not  think  of  it  often  in 
this  way.  Yet,  after  all,  it  is  the  assur- 
ance of  God's  existence  that  is  our  deep- 
est and  final  support.  Cut  it  out  from 
your  life,  and  what  have  you  but  chaos  .-* 
Bring  it  into  your  life,  not  as  a  common- 
place, but  as  a  vital  truth,  and  you  have 
this,  that  as  God  is  Truth,  and  Love, 
and  Wisdom,  you  have,  if  you  abide  in 
God's  presence,  the  whole  power  of 
Truth,  Love,  and  Wisdom  to  back  you. 
You  have  an  infinite  storehouse  from 
which  to  draw.  From  Him  cometh,  and 
may  come,  in  these  months,  if  we  seek 
them,  every  good  and  perfect  gift. 

Again,  there  is  the  fact  that  the  Son 
of  God  once  walked  this  earth,  and  that 
He  lived  a  spotless  life ;  and,  having 
tasted  for  man  the  sufferings  and  ills 
common  to  men,  and  having  conquered 
sin  and  death,  now  lives,  and  sitting  on 
the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  is  forever 
the  type  of  the  perfect  humanity,  and 
the  inspiration  to  all  men  to  live  as  in 
His  presence.  Imagine  for  a  moment,  if 
you  can,  the  facts  and  the  power  of  the 
7 


THE   YOUNG  MAN'S   VISION 

life  of  Jesus  cut  out,  eliminated  from 
history  and  modern  civilization,  and 
from  the  lives  of  men,  and  what  have 
you  of  character  and  moral  fibre  and  all 
that  goes  to  make  up  the  best  of  hu- 
manity ?  The  fact  of  the  Incarnation  of 
the  Son  of  God  is,  however,  a  truth  from 
which  the  world  has  only  begun  to  draw. 
There  are  infinite  possibilities  still  un- 
fathomed. 

The  truth  of  the  brooding  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  over  the  lives  of  men,  and  of  His 
waiting  to  touch  them  with  the  fire  of 
divine  love,  has  hardly  yet  been  ex- 
plored. 

Again,  there  is  that  great  army  of 
apostles,  saints,  and  martyrs,  who  by 
noble  lives  and  perhaps  nobler  deaths 
have  given  their  testimony  to  the  truth 
of  Jesus.  The  Christian  who  meets  with 
any  enemy  knows  that  he  has  behind 
him  their  sympathy  and  example.  There 
are,  too,  those  mysterious  beings  and 
powers  of  which  this  day  speaks,  ten 
thousand  times  ten  thousand,  angels  and 
archangels,  all  ministering  spirits.  What- 
ever your  theory  may  be  about  them, 
they  stand  for  heavenly,  spiritual  forces 
waiting  to  come  to  the  aid  of  men. 
8 


THE   YOUNG   MAN'S   VISION 

It  is  of  them  that  we  read  in  great 
spiritual  crises.  They  break  the  silence 
of  the  first  Christmas  night,  and  are  the 
first  to  speak  from  the  empty  tomb  on 
Easter  morning.  They  minister  to  the 
Saviour  after  His  victories  over  the 
tempter  in  the  wilderness  and  in  Geth- 
semane.  And  in  the  midst  of  His 
betrayal  there  stand  twelve  legions  of 
angels  ready  to  come  at  His  bidding. 

These  are  only  hints  and  suggestions. 
No  word  of  man  can  describe  the  wealth 
of  spiritual  resource  that  is  at  the  bid- 
ding of  any  Christian.  My  point  is  only 
to  emphasize  the  truth  that  it  is  a  dull 
and  spiritless  life  that  looks  forward  to  a 
year  of  simply  holding  one's  own  against 
the  temptations  of  life.  We  are  alto- 
gether too  ready  to  regret  that  virtue 
and  religion  must  have  a  struggle  in 
these  days  to  survive  at  all.  We  then 
settle  down  to  the  average  tone,  feeling 
that  if  we  are  not  wholly  overcome  by 
the  enemy,  we  are  doing  well  enough. 
Whereas,  with  such  spiritual  resources 
to  draw  from,  with  powers  about  us  wait- 
ing for  us  to  seize  them  and  bring  them 
into  service,  we  could  gather  to  ourselves 
such  a  force  of  character,  of  moral 
9 


THE   YOUNG   MAN'S   VISION 

strength  and  spiritual  purpose,  as  would 
confound  the  enemies  that  now  look  so 
powerful. 

It  is  strange  how  the  best  powers  are 
unrecognized  because  they  are  unher- 
alded. To  estimate  the  character  of 
many  young  men  as  they  appear  on  the 
surface,  some  might  say  that  they  were 
wholly  thoughtless  ;  some  might  say  that 
they  were  cynical  and  bad.  Some  do 
say  all  these.  I  believe  it  to  be  true, 
however,  that  there  are  very  few  who 
do  not  have  beneath  that  superficial 
manner,  certainly  in  their  more  serious 
moments,  when  they  are  most  them- 
selves, a  real  desire  to  do  better  and  to  be 
stronger  and  purer  and  more  useful  than 
they  are.  They  would  like  to  draw  some 
of  the  heavenly  forces  to  their  aid  ;  they 
do  not  realize  that  their  classmates  and 
friends  are  desiring  the  same  ;  so  they 
drop  down  to  the  average.  But  if  the 
hearts  of  all  those  who  want  more  of 
the  heavenly  vision  and  power  should 
be  revealed,  we  should  stand  amazed  at 
their  number. 

Thus  far  I  have  been  trying  to  em- 
phasize the  fact  of  the  heavenly  powers, 
and  of  a  desire  in  many  for  them.     The 

lO 


THE   YOUNG   MAN'S   VISION 

question  now  comes  before  us,  How  is 
the  vision  to  be  gained,  and  how  are  the 
powers  to  be  brought  into  service  ? 

The  answer  is  in  the  text  :  "  And  Eli- 
sha  prayed  and  said,  Lord,  I  pray  thee 
open  his  eyes." 

Prayer  ;  and  yet  I  do  not  understand 
by  this,  merely  formal  verbal  prayer.  In 
it  is  first  the  upward  look,  the  heavenly 
determination  in  life  and  hope.  The 
resources  of  nature  reveal  themselves 
only  to  him  who  has  an  eye  for  them  and 
a  patient  determination  to  seek  them. 
The  secrets  of  knowledge  are  an  open 
vision  only  to  the  student.  The  powers 
of  heaven  wait  for  the  bidding  of  him 
who  has  the  look  and  the  aim  toward 
heavenly  things.  Let  a  man  realize  ever 
so  vividly  the  danger  of  the  temptations 
about  him,  and  if  he  have  no  desire  for 
strength  of  character,  he  is  helpless. 
Let  a  man  long  for  purity  and  the  attain- 
ment of  high  ideals,  and  if  his  life  and 
talk  are  of  the  earth,  earthy,  the  ideals 
are  impossible.  Let  a  man  envy  the 
faith  of  others,  their  usefulness  and  their 
highmindedness,  and  if  he  do  not  look 
upward  to  Him  from  whom  come  all 
these  gifts,  he  will  die  envying  another 


THE   YOUNG  MAN'S   VISION 

for  graces  which  he  has  made  no  effort 
to  gain. 

Here  is  the  crucial  point.  We  want 
the  heavenly  forces  to  back  us.  Have 
we  the  determination  to  drag  them  down 
to  our  aid  .-'  Have  we  the  patience  to  so 
frame  our  thoughts  and  lives  that  we 
can  call  them  .-*  In  other  words,  if  you 
want  to  grow  in  character  this  year,  if 
you  want  to  keep  pure  and  true,  if  you 
want  to  have  the  strength  to  meet  temp- 
tation, you  must  do  as  in  everything 
else,  keep  on  the  alert  for  it  ;  form  habits 
which  will  help  you  towards  it. 

Young  men,  and  older  men  too,  drop 
prayer  and  worship  and  all  regular  reli- 
gious habits  for  years,  and  are  then  sur- 
prised some  day  to  wake  up  to  the  fact 
that  they  have  lost  their  faith.  Then 
they  lay  the  blame  on  the  Church,  on  an 
uninteresting  preacher,  or  on  their  cir- 
cumstances, on  anything  but  themselves. 
Of  course  they  have  lost  their  faith ; 
faith  would  not  be  worth  the  having  if  it 
could  be  kept  with  such  neglect.  No ! 
as  you  value  your  faith,  your  God  and 
your  Saviour,  as  you  look  for  a  nobler  and 
better  character,  keep  the  spiritual  eye 
upward.    Pray  when  and  where  you  will, 


THE   YOUNG  MAN'S   VISION 

but  pray  as  a  habit.  The  heavenly  eye 
must  be  kept  trained  and  adjusted  to 
heavenly  visions  if  it  would  gain  any- 
thing from  them.  Habit,  patient  deter- 
mined habit,  is  the  basis  of  the  best 
characters  and  of  the  largest  revelations  ; 
habit  that  is  never  allowed  to  master  the 
spirit,  but  that  serves  the  spirit  in  lead- 
ing up  to  higher  and  higher  standpoints. 
Hold  on  to  your  habit  of  worship.  Sun- 
day after  Sunday,  join  with  others  in 
prayer  and  praise ;  and  so  stimulate  the 
spiritual  vigor  which  may  have  abated  in 
the  week. 

Thus  far  I  have  been  speaking  of  our- 
selves and  of  our  own  spiritual  enforce- 
ment. But  the  question  arises  as  to 
what  place  this  truth  has  in  our  relation 
to  other  people  ;  in  trying,  for  instance, 
to  do  our  duty  by  our  friends  or  our 
children. 

When  you  see  your  old  schoolmate,  or 
your  present  classmate  or  fellow  clerk 
or  companion,  gradually  drifting  away 
from  religious  habits,  and  then  from  re- 
ligious life ;  when  you  watch  him  weak- 
ening in  his  convictions  of  right  and 
wrong,  of  purity  and   honor;    and   you 

13 


THE   YOUNG   MAN'S   VISION 

know  that  the  powers  of  the  world,  the 
love  of  popularity,  of  a  good  time,  or  of 
money  are  looming  up  in  front  of  him  ; 
when  you  long  to  stand  behind  him 
and  warn  him  and  brace  him  up  and 
bring  him  back  to  faith  and  purity,  how 
are  you  going  to  do  it  ?  Will  you 
simply  tell  him  that  he  ought  to  turn 
over  a  new  leaf  and  do  better  ?  Will 
you  urge  him  to  go  to  church  with  you  ? 
Will  you  ask  him  to  give  his  soul  to 
Jesus  ? 

You  may  do  one  or  all  of  these.  But 
I  tell  you  that  before  these  touch  or  help 
him  he  is  going  to  look  you  in  the  eye. 
He  is  going  to  look  you  through  and 
through,  and  if  he  discovers  any  falter- 
ing of  faith  on  your  part,  if  he  learns  that 
some  of  the  same  weaknesses  attach 
to  you  that  you  have  found  in  him  ; 
if  he  sees  not  in  your  life  the  strength 
of  character,  the  simplicity,  the  calm 
assurance  which  comes  from  real  ex- 
perience, your  words  are  worse  than  use- 
less. But  if  your  life  and  character  tell 
of  heavenly  powers  gained,  of  truth  and 
honor  behind  and  around  you,  of  sincer- 
ity and  humility,  then  who  knows  what 
heavenly  visions  he  may  have,  what 
14 


THE  YOUNG  MAN'S  VISION 

warnings   of    conscience,  what    shame, 
what  repentance,  what  hope  ? 

Or  again,  when  the  young  man  of 
earnest  thought  and  love  of  truth  comes 
to  you  panic-stricken  at  the  waning  or 
loss  of  his  old  child-faith,  when  some  read- 
ing or  study  has  startled  him  for  the  first 
time  to  really  doubt  and  deny  his  old 
creed,  even  all  Christian  truth,  as  he  turns 
to  you  with  the  feeling  that  as  you  are 
a  Christian  in  profession  he  may  claim 
you  as  his  guide,  with  the  cry,  "Alas, 
my  master,  how  shall  we  do  ?  "  what  have 
you  for  an  answer  ?  Merely  the  cold 
statement  that  these  are  days  when 
faiths  are  easily  lost ;  that  you  have  not 
much  yourself ;  that  he  will  have  to  get 
along  without  it  ?  Will  you  tell  him 
that  skepticism  is  in  the  air,  is  infec- 
tious ;  that  he  will  get  over  it  after  a 
while  ?  Or  have  prayer  and  heavenly 
aspirations  so  enriched  your  life  that 
the  young  man  catches  in  your  charac- 
ter glimpses  of  the  heavenly  powers, 
and  sees  the  possibilities  of  his  own 
life  ;  forgets  his  loss  of  faith  through 
despair,  and  calls  to  his  service  those 
forces  which  only  Heaven  can  send 
him  ? 

15 


THE   YOUNG   MAN'S   VISION 

I  have  been  speaking  mostly  to  the 
younger  people,  but  I  cannot  shut  my 
eyes  to  the  fact  that  there  are  others 
than  young  people  in  this  congregation. 

I  turn  to  you  parents,  who  are  or  who 
ought  to  be  the  interpreters  of  the  hea- 
venly life  to  your  children.  When  your 
boy  comes  to  you  with  his  first  direct 
question,  when  he  searches  your  faith  to 
its  foundation  with  that  honest  inquiry 
as  to  the  meaning  of  your  prayers,  your 
creed,  and  your  worship,  are  you  going 
to  throw  him  off  by  telling  him  to  ask 
his  Sunday-school  teacher  or  his  min- 
ister, or  not  to  bother  about  such  things  .? 
He  will  bother  about  them.  He  will 
ask.  And  those  questions  must  be  an- 
swered by  men  and  books  of  unbelief  if 
he  gets  no  response  from  a  man  of  be- 
lief. Then  is  your  opportunity  ;  are  you 
able  to  seize  it  ?  Is  your  faith  in  the 
heavenly  life  real  and  strong  and  deep 
enough  to  lift  him  out  of  his  questions 
into  assurance  ?  Is  the  response  of  your 
life  consistent  with  the  answer  of  your 
lips  }  While  you  talk  of  heavenly  things, 
do  you  live  the  heavenly  life .-'  While 
you  urge  him  to  the  upward  look,  to 
the  realization  of  the  powers  of  right- 
i6 


THE   YOUNG   MAN'S   VISION 

eousness  and  truth,  are  your  eyes  too 
uplifted  ?  And  are  these  same  powers 
backing  your  life  in  business,  society,  and 
politics  ?  I  tell  you  that  the  boy's  ques- 
tion strikes  deep,  and  only  a  life  can 
reveal  the  answer.  So,  my  friends,  we 
are  all  interpreters,  revealers  of  the  hea- 
venly powers  to  men  ;  all  Elishas  unfold- 
ing visions  of  spiritual  ambitions  and 
armies  of  spiritual  powers.  This  is  the 
glory  of  the  ministry,  that  its  whole  work 
is  the  revealing  to  men  by  word  and  life 
the  truths  and  the  forces  of  the  heavenly 
life.  It  is  the  prophet's  or  the  preacher's 
mission.  Aye,  it  is  the  mission  of  every 
man,  minister,  teacher,  parent  ;  the  point- 
ing upward,  the  revealing  of  the  limit- 
less resources  of  the  spiritual  world,  the 
bringing  of  those  forces  to  the  develop- 
ment of  character,  and  the  increase  of 
strength  to  overcome  the  enemy. 

As  our  closing  thought  let  us  follow 
to  its  end  the  story.  "  And  behold,  the 
mountain  was  full  of  horses  and  chariots 
of  fire  round  about  Elisha.  And  when 
they  came  down  to  him,"  "  the  Lord 
smote  the  Syrians  with  blindness,"  and 
Elisha  led  them  captive  to  Samaria  and 
delivered  them  to  the  king  of  Israel. 
17 


THE   YOUNG   MAN'S   VISION 

Given  a  man  of  faith  and  the  heavenly 
powers  behind  him,  and  you  have  untold 
possibilities.  History  is  full  of  such  in- 
stances ;  men  and  women,  single-handed, 
but  with  the  heavenly  vision,  effecting 
what  armies  could  hardly  accomplish. 
Trusting  in  the  heavenly  powers,  Lu- 
ther roused  the  heart  of  Europe  against 
the  tyranny  of  the  Pope.  By  faith  Lati- 
mer, when  led  to  the  stake,  cheered  his 
companions  with  the  assurance  that  they 
should  light  such  a  candle  in  England  as 
would  never  be  put  out.  In  obedience 
to  his  heavenly  insight,  Livingstone 
entered  the  heart  of  Africa  and  led  the 
Christian  world  to  realize  the  degrada- 
tion and  slavery  of  the  dark  continent. 
By  the  open  vision  of  the  young  man, 
Gordon  led  the  hosts  in  China  and  be- 
came a  martyr  in  Soudan.  By  faith 
Patteson  and  Hannington  and  Father 
Damien  have  given  to  this  century  the 
types  of  Christian  heroism. 

Keep,  therefore,  your  eye  upon  the 
heavenly  powers  ;  call  them  to  your  ser- 
vice, and  with  them  around  you  take  up 
the  routine  and  the  duties  of  life.    . 


II 

THE   CHALLENGE    OF  JESUS ^ 

John  the  Baptist's  work  was  done. 
The  popular  enthusiasm  for  him  had 
passed  ;  forsaken  by  the  crowd,  almost 
friendless,  imprisoned,  nothing  remained 
for  him  in  this  life  but  the  death  sen- 
tence of  Herod  and  the  axe  of  the  ex- 
ecutioner. The  last  message  had  just 
passed  from  the  Baptist  to  Jesus,  and 
His  answer  was  on  its  way  to  the  dun- 
geon. As  the  people  followed  with  their 
eye  the  retiring  figures  of  the  messen- 
gers of  the  imprisoned  John,  the  mem- 
ory of  the  scene  of  his  preaching  and 
popularity  must  have  swept  over  them  ; 
and  the  contrast  of  his  position  then  and 
now  must  have  moved  them,  some  to 
pity,  but  the  most  of  them  to  a  disdain 
of  a  man  who  had  mounted,  and  for  the 
moment  had  rested  on  the  crest  of  a 
wave   of  popular  enthusiasm,   but    who 

1  Appleton  Chapel,  Harvard  University,  February 
2,  1890. 

19 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF   JESUS 

had  sunk,  and  was  now  imprisoned  and 
degraded. 

Anticipating  these  thoughts,  the  Sa- 
viour hastened  to  convince  the  people 
that  the  faikire  was  with  them,  and  not 
with  the  Baptist ;  that  in  their  mistaken 
view  of  his  mission  they  had  failed  to 
grasp  the  greatness  of  his  character  ;  that 
in  going  out  to  see  a  man  who  was  the 
object  of  popular  applause,  they  had 
neglected  to  see  in  him  the  elements 
which,  when  the  crisis  came,  threw  pop- 
ular applause  to  the  winds. 

"  And  when  the  messengers  of  John 
were  departed,  He  began  to  speak  unto 
the  people  concerning  John,  What  went 
ye  out  into  the  wilderness  for  to  see  ? 
A  reed  shaken  with  the  wind .''  But 
what  went  ye  out  for  to  see  ?  A  man 
clothed  in  soft  raiment  ?  Behold,  they 
which  are  gorgeously  apparelled  and 
live  delicately,  are  in  kings'  courts.  But 
what  went  ye  out  for  to  see  .-*  A  pro- 
phet ?  Yea,  I  say  unto  you,  and  much 
more  than  a  prophet."  ^ 

Three  types  of  character,  —  all  of 
them  existing  in  the  Baptist's  day,  all 
of    them   existing   in  our   day,  —  three 

1  Luke  vii.  24-26. 
20 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF  JESUS 

types,  each  of  which  appeals  to  every- 
one of  us,  and  claims  our  interest,  and 
may  claim  our  lives. 

"A  reed  shaken  with  the  wind." 
With  those  words,  our  memories,  like  the 
memories  of  those  who  had  stood  on  Jor- 
dan's banks,  run  back  to  a  summer's  day, 
when,  as  we  have  walked  through  some 
meadow,  or  floated  down  some  placid 
stream,  we  have  watched  the  stately 
sedges  and  reeds  sway  and  bend  beneath 
the  moving  air  ;  they  seem  to  anticipate 
the  coming  breeze  before  we  feel  it,  and 
prepare  to  bend  their  heads  to  avoid  the 
sharp  or  sudden  blast ;  graceful,  yield- 
ing, they  right  themselves,  and  swing 
again  to  the  changing  air. 

The  perfect  type  of  the  pliable  char- 
acter. We  have  not  time  to  describe  it 
as  it  was  in  the  Baptist's  day.  There 
are  so  many  phases  that  interest  us  now 
all  about  us.  It  is  one  of  the  admira- 
ble features  of  culture  that  it  adds  to  the 
grace  of  living.  The  highly  cultivated 
man  may  have  the  same  strong  convic- 
tions as  the  ignorant  man,  but  he  ex- 
presses them  in  a  gentler  and  more 
sympathetic  way,  and  so  avoids  the  fric- 
tion  of    hard   and   angular    characters. 

21 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF  JESUS 

In  these  days,  when  popular  opinion 
gathers  force  so  quickly,  and  moves  in 
such  varied  currents,  and  when  the  con- 
victions and  sentiments  are  so  intricate 
and  so  differently  expressed,  it  is  well,  it  is 
necessary,  that  tact  and  grace  and  a  wide 
sympathy  with  other  views  should  come 
to  the  aid  of  strong  opinion  and  help  it 
yield  and  bend  in  certain  ways,  though 
standing  firm  by  its  deeper  convictions. 
But  —  and  here  is  the  point  of  the  Sa- 
viour's word  —  the  danger  comes  when 
yielding  and  pliability  become  the  char- 
acteristic of  the  man,  and  strength  of 
character  is  sapped  in  the  effort  to  meet 
every  wave  of  popular  opinion,  and  to 
let  it  pass  over  without  resistance. 

One  might  almost  say  that  this  is  the 
danger  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and 
the  temptation  which  above  all  besets 
every  boy  and  young  man  who  has  an 
ambition  in  life.  The  rise  of  democracy 
has  put  the  power  into  the  hands  of  the 
people  and  of  public  opinion.  He  who 
would  succeed  must  be  in  touch  with 
the  people,  and  sensitive  to  every  move- 
ment of  public  opinion.  We  know  that 
the  manufacturer  who  expects  to  sell 
his  goods  next  year  must  already  know, 

22 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF   JESUS 

or  learn,  or  rather  feel,  what  the  people 
are  going  to  want  next  year ;  and  the 
politician  who  is  going  to  get  office  must 
have  already  anticipated  the  popular 
opinion  on  certain  questions ;  and  so 
with  the  smallest  spheres  of  life.  The 
result  is  that,  like  some  animals  that  can 
feel  the  coming  storm  before  they  see  it, 
we  are  developing  an  extreme  sensitive- 
ness to  popular  movements  and  popular 
opinion  which  may  work  to  our  safety, 
and  which  often  works  to  our  destruc- 
tion. This  temptation  to  yield  quietly 
and  gracefully  to  the  breezes  of  popular 
opinion — there  is  not  one  of  us  that 
does  not  feel  it. 

We  have  seen  a  young  man  enter  poli- 
tics, and  in  the  first  years  of  his  political 
life  stand  as  stiff  and  true  under  the 
varying  movements  as  the  little  reed 
that  is  just  springing  from  the  meadow. 
But  as  he  rises  into  popular  view  and 
feels  more  directly  the  waves  of  the 
different  parties  and  opinions,  how  he 
droops  and  sways !  And  who  can  tell 
which  way  he  will  next  swing .''  In  his 
political  rise  he  has  reached  a  position 
where  the  waves  of  party  affiliation  and 
policy  have  a  much  heavier  weight  than 
23 


THE  CHALLENGE   OF  JESUS 

any  of  us  realize.  His  opinions  are  no 
weaker,  but  the  pressure  is  so  much 
heavier  that  his  convictions  have  to 
yield. 

We  have  seen  girls  enter  society,  and 
young  men  enter  college  life,  and  pass 
through  the  same  experience.  At  first 
the  ideas  of  the  true  life,  though  small 
and  narrow  in  some  features,  are  clear 
and  strong.  Home  and  school  life  and 
parents'  words  have  set  the  lines  of  right 
and  wrong.  With  the  larger  life  of 
society  and  college,  however,  principles 
carried  into  action  become  more  intricate 
and  definite,  convictions  more  difficult. 
Those  whom  we  admire  do  what  we 
consider  questionable,  and  those  whom 
others  admire  do  what  we  believe  is  low 
and  degrading  or  wrong.  Then  comes 
the  shrinking  from  being  considered 
peculiar,  from  setting  ourselves  up  as 
stronger  or  better  than  the  rest.  What 
right  has  one  ugly  reed  to  stand  stiff 
and  upright,  when  all  the  others  bend 
gracefully  to  the  breeze  .-*  And  so  we 
bend  ;  we  will  not  break,  we  say.  Thus 
we  do  the  "  correct  thing  ;  "  we  create 
no  ill-feeling,  we  appear  modest  and 
never  self-assertive;  we  move  in  sym- 
24 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF   JESUS 

pathy  with  our  comrades  ;  we  strengthen 
no  one,  and  help  no  one  to  keep  his 
convictions,  and  gradually  our  principles 
weaken.  Unless,  my  friends,  we  guard 
ourselves  and  keep  true  to  our  better 
selves,  and  sometimes  dare  to  stand 
strong,  we  become  the  world's  puppet ; 
admired,  and  at  the  same  time  despised  ; 
to  the  popular  view,  respectable ;  to  the 
view  of  all  true  men,  and  of  your  inner 
self,  simply  despicable. 

You  know,  and  I  know,  men  and 
women  to-day,  whom  we  meet  in  society 
and  see  in  the  clubs  and  on  the  streets, 
who  are  not  bad  or  grossly  immoral ; 
they  are  no  worse  than  the  public  opin- 
ion about  them  makes  them,  and  no 
better.  They  simply  exist,  and  grace- 
fully bend  as  they  are  moved. 

Is  it  of  one  of  us  that  Jesus  speaks  ? 
A  reed  shaken  with  the  wind .'' 

"  But  what  went  ye  out  for  to  see  .''  A 
man  clothed  in  soft  raiment .'' " 

It  cannot  be  that  this  type  exists  in 
modern  life,  we  say.  In  those  ancient 
days  when  monarchs  lived  in  royal  state 
and  the  people  were  ignorant,  character 
and  position  might  have  been  measured 

25 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF  JESUS 

by  the  wealth  of  garments  and  houses 
and  the  size  of  retinues.  And  in  Europe, 
we  may  still  find  the  same.  A  social 
caste,  an  aristocracy,  create  social  ambi- 
tions and  all  the  sycophant's  spirit  which 
goes  with  them.  But  in  the  democracy, 
each  man  is  measured  by  his  worth,  not 
in  houses  and  carriages  and  clothes,  but 
as  a  man  of  character.  The  people  in 
St.  Petersburg,  Berlin,  and  even  in  Lon- 
don, may  crowd  out  to  see  those  who 
are  sumptuously  apparelled  and  live  in 
kings'  houses  ;  but  we  —  we  Americans 
—  flock  and  crowd  about  the  man  ; 
we  select  the  noblest  character  in  the 
community  for  our  applause  ;  our  news- 
papers are  full  of  the  wise  sayings  and 
ennobling  words  of  the  purest  and  most 
intelligent  and  truest  men  in  the  land  ; 
we  hear  not  of  the  people  whose  only 
title  to  popular  esteem  is  their  income 
and  their  houses  and  their  dances. 

Is  it  in  sober  truth,  or  in  sarcasm,  that 
this  is  spoken .-'  Let  each  man  answer 
for  himself. 

If  one  can  figure  popular  interest  by 

the  circulation  of  these  newspapers  which 

treat  of  men  and  women  clothed  in  soft 

raiment,  of  those  which  are  filled  with 

26 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF   JESUS 

petty  personalities  and  society  gossip, 
and  talk  about  the  silliest  and  weakest 
and  most  despicable  creatures  in  society, 
I  am  afraid  that  our  assertions  of  popu- 
lar interest  in  the  noble  character  must 
be  taken  as  sarcasm.  The  gossip  of 
kings'  courts  had  some  touch  of  char- 
acter, for  it  dealt  with  historic  interests 
and  real  powers,  though  it  dealt  with 
them  in  a  mean  way.  And  the  thought 
of  an  aristocracy  has  in  it  associations 
with  a  noble  past  at  least,  though  the 
present  be  ignoble  :  but  the  reading  by 
the  half  hour  and  hour  together  of  the 
petty  personalities  of  those  whose  only 
distinction  is  that  they  have  suddenly 
become  rich,  the  devouring  of  books  that 
treat  of  the  silliest  and  not  the  strongest 
and  noblest  characters  in  society  makes 
us  ashamed  of  ourselves. 

Oh  !  ye  upholders  of  democracy,  where 
man  is  man,  and  manhood  is  respected  for 
its  own  sake,  what  go  ye  out  for  to  see  ? 
Do  our  newspapers,  our  small  talk,  and 
much  of  our  popular  literature  belie  us .-' 
Have  we  no  nobler  object  of  interest 
than  richly  clothed  men  and  women,  and 
no  nobler  ideal  than  to  become  as  one 
of  them .''  In  our  weaker  moments  some 
27 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF   JESUS 

of  US  envy  them,  but  at  heart  we  despise 
them,  and  despise  ourselves  for  regard- 
ing them. 

But  what  went  ye  out  for  to  see  ? 
A  prophet  ? 

A  prophet.  We  have  a  crude  notion 
of  what  that  is  —  a  man  of  severe  mien, 
strong  but  hard,  denunciatory,  unsympa- 
thetic ;  or  one  who,  magician-like,  fore- 
tells events  in  the  far  future. 

But  surely  there  is  something  greater 
and  more  vital  in  the  true  prophet  than 
foretelling  events  and  denouncing  sins. 
The  prophet  is  the  speaker  for  God  ;  he 
interprets  to  men  the  heart  and  thought 
of  God.  Two  features,  therefore,  belong 
to  him,  which  are  not  confined  to  the 
days  of  Elijah  or  of  John  the  Baptist, 
or  to  the  pulpit  and  the  ordained 
preachers  of  these  days,  but  features 
which  may  be  in  the  possession  of  any 
one,  thus  making  him,  up  to  the  limit  of 
his  powers,  a  Prophet  ;  and  these  are 
the  knowledge  of  God  and  the  knowledge 
of  men. 

A  young  man  breaks  from  a  maze  of 
doubts  about  God  and  religion  into  the 
conviction  that  whatever  else  may  be 
28 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF   JESUS 

true,  righteousness  is  eternally  right  ; 
and  he  lives  by  that.  Soon  he  finds  that 
living  by  that  law  he  is  led  into  the 
realm  of  truth,  of  purity,  of  love,  of  sac- 
rifice, and  of  grateful  service.  Behind 
all  these  he  craves  the  fact  of  a  person- 
ality. And  then  by  that  same  path,  over 
which  millions  have  trod,  he  is  led  to  the 
faith  in  the  personal  God,  the  Heavenly 
Father.  From  lame  and  halting  aspira- 
tions he  is  drawn  to  more  direct  and  dis- 
tinct prayer.  Then,  in  that  communion 
which  is  more  than  prayer,  he  receives 
from  God  his  noblest  hopes,  his  highest 
ambitions,  and  his  deepest  truths.  As 
God  whom  he  adores  and  with  whom  he 
communes  is  perfectly  pure,  true,  and 
just,  the  man  becomes  sensitive  to  im- 
purity, untruth,  and  injustice.  As  he 
speaks  or  acts,  so  far  as  he  is  in  com- 
munion with  God,  he  speaks  or  acts  for 
God.  The  man  who  thus  knows  God 
does  not  necessarily  ascend  the  pulpit 
steps,  nor  stand  like  Elijah,  or  the  Bap- 
tist, before  kings,  but  in  the  smaller  circle 
of  his  friends  he  speaks,  and  in  the  wider 
circles  of  his  acquaintances  he  acts.  His 
voice  may  find  an  echo  in  hearts  at  a 
distance.  In  book  and  song  and  story 
29 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF   JESUS 

he  may  speak.  But  in  all  these,  when 
his  voice  sounds  for  the  right  and  true, 
he  speaks  for  God ;  he  is  God's  pro- 
phet. Coleridge,  Maurice,  Keble,  and 
Kingsley  were  prophets  by  their  firesides 
as  well  as  through  their  books.  Carlyle 
also  in  his  early  days,  Ruskin  and  Bright ; 
aye,  and  many  men  whose  voices  have 
never  reached  beyond  their  fireside  or 
the  limits  of  their  humble  village,  men 
of  God,  peasants  and  miners  and  factory 
hands,  were  prophets.  For,  by  a  close 
and  intimate  communion,  tested  by  years 
of  spiritual  experience,  they  have  known 
God  ;  and  when  they  have  his  word  to 
speak,  they  have  uttered  it  with  no  un- 
certain sound. 

The  prophet  must  have  a  knowledge 
of  men.  For  how  can  he  speak  to  their 
sins,  their  wants,  or  their  ambitions,  un- 
less he  know  well  what  they  are  ?  He 
cannot  stand  apart ;  but  living,  working, 
enjoying,  suffering  with  men,  he  will 
probe  to  their  innermost  thoughts,  and 
with  that  instinct  which  comes  with  in- 
timate knowledge,  he  will  leap  at  their 
most  secret  ambitions.  As  sensitive  as 
the  tenderest  reed  to  the  coming  breeze, 
he  will  feel  the  coming  social  and  reli- 
3° 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF   JESUS 

gious  movements  and  will  utter  his  sharp 
note  of  warning  or  of  hope.  Study  the 
lives  of  those  whom  I  have  mentioned, 
and  you  will  see  how  we  are  living  in 
the  sins  and  the  blessings  which  those 
men  anticipated  a  generation  ago. 

I  say  that  they  are  as  sensitive  as  the 
reed  ;  but  —  mark  the  difference  —  un- 
like the  reed,  when  it  is  a  question  of 
right  or  wrong,  they  refuse  to  bend  to 
the  popular  breeze,  but  assert  the  right 
of  the  man  to  stand.  Aye  !  so  convinced 
are  they  of  God's  truth  that  it  is  hardly 
an  effort  to  stand :  for  the  principles  of 
God  are  so  inwrought  into  their  charac- 
ters that  they  can  do  nothing  but  stand. 
Their  knowledge  of  men  gives  them  the 
tact,  the  insight,  and  the  readiness  to 
bend  when  yielding  is  right ;  their  know- 
ledge of  God  keeps  them  true  and  strong 
when  yielding  is  weak  and  not  right. 

Have  we  been  wandering  from  our 
thought .'' 

What  go  ye  out  into  life  to  see  ?  Surely 
not  a  reed  shaken  with  the  wind.  Far  less 
the  man  clothed  in  soft  raiment.  The 
prophet ;  he  who,  full  of  the  divine  life, 
is  true  and  strong  ;  and  he  who,  intensely 
31 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF  JESUS 

interested  in  men,  is  full  of  sympathy, 
grace,  and  tact.  Prophets  have  not  al- 
ways been  these  ;  sometimes  they  have 
been  hard,  and  under  harsh  treatment 
have  become  embittered,  and  then  they 
cease  to  speak  for  God ;  but  these  are 
the  qualities  of  the  true  prophet. 

Now,  if  you  will,  go  out  into  the  world 
and  look  for  such  men.  You  may  find 
one  in  the  heyday  of  popularity  and  an- 
other in  lonely  neglect,  or  perhaps  some 
young  prophet  who  is  soon  to  catch  the 
ears  of  the  people,  but  who  looks  not 
to  their  applause  for  his  reward.  Wher- 
ever you  discover  them,  you  will  see 
those  whom  the  world  to-day  needs 
above  all  others,  men  of  courage  —  cour- 
age to  speak  their  convictions  and  to 
stand  by  them ;  courage  to  meet  defeat 
of  their  dearest  hopes  in  patience ;  and, 
what  is  sometimes  harder,  courage  to 
meet  success  without  yielding  a  hair's 
breadth  in  principle.  You  will  find  men 
who  esteem  public  opinion,  but  who  will 
never  become  its  slave ;  who  are  ready, 
so  far  as  they  can  consistently,  to  do 
what  is  called  the  correct  thing,  but  who 
will  always  do  the  right  thing ;  men 
who  will  risk  popularity  to  denounce  a 
32 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF   JESUS 

sin,  and  who  will  be  socially  ostracized, 
if  that  is  necessary,  to  uphold  a  virtue. 

They  will  be  men  of  hope.  No  cynic 
or  pessimist  was  ever  a  true  prophet. 
Such  men  live  in  the  ills  of  the  present. 
But  however  evil  the  present  may  be,  the 
prophet  always  has  God  above  and  be- 
hind him,  and  the  conviction  that  some- 
how, some  day,  God's  light  will  break 
forth  before  him.  The  prophets  of  old 
to  a  man  pointed  forward  to  the  brighter 
day,  to  the  coming  of  the  Sun  of  Right- 
eousness. 

In  all  the  turmoil  of  disappointed 
hopes  and  unfulfilled  ambitions  of  these 
days,  in  the  discontent  and  cynicism  of 
rich  and  poor  alike,  in  the  sins  and  sor- 
rows and  sufferings  of  our  pushing  civil- 
ization, the  voice  that  needs  to  be  heard 
above  all  others  is  that  of  the  prophet  of 
hope  and  peace  and  relief. 

Given  the  man  of  God,  the  man 
among  men,  the  man  of  courage  and  of 
hope,  and  you  have  the  leader  of  all  true 
men. 

What  go  ye  out  for  to  see  ?  A  reed 
shaken  with  the  wind  ?  a  man  clothed  in 
soft  raiment  ?     A  prophet  ? 

Oh,  you  who  are  young,  whose  lives 
33 


THE   CHALLENGE   OF   JESUS 

will  be  moulded  by  your  leaders ;  who 
are  now  looking  here  and  there  to  see 
what  career  you  will  mark  out  for  your- 
self ;  you  who  are  studying  and  talking 
of  the  leaders  of  to-day  in  society,  in  the 
professions,  in  public  life,  and  in  litera- 
ture, listen  to  the  challenge  of  Jesus  : 
Whom  go  ye  out  for  to  see  ?  Which 
crowd  will  you  join  ?  Which  leader  will 
you  take  ? 

34 


Ill 

THE    FIXEDNESS    OF    CHARACTER^ 

Science  is  teaching  us  what  the  pro- 
phets tried  to  teach  the  people  of  their 
day,  that  a  man's  life  cannot  be  cut  up 
into  separate  parts  which  have  no  rela- 
tion to  each  other.  Life  is  a  living 
stream,  and  whatever  pours  into  it  be- 
comes a  part  of  its  current,  either  for 
good  or  for  bad.  We  must  go  even 
farther  than  this,  and  recognize  the  fact 
that  all  human  life,  through  its  various 
generations,  is  bound  together,  so  that 
each  one  of  us  is  more  or  less  the  result 
of  the  past.  On  this  fact  was  founded 
the  old  doctrine  of  original  sin,  and  on 
this  is  based  the  principle  of  heredity. 

The  people  to  whom  the  prophet  Eze- 
kiel  preached  recognized  all  this ;  but 
instead  of  using  it  as  a  motive  for  devel- 
oping the  good  in  themselves,  they  made 
it  an  excuse  for  their  wrong-doing.     "  Our 

1  St.  John's  Memorial  Chapel,  Cambridge,  March 
S.  1893. 

35 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF  CHARACTER 

fathers,  and  not  ourselves,  are  to  blame 
for  our  sins,"  was  their  cry.  "  Our  fa- 
thers have  eaten  sour  grapes,  and  their 
children's  teeth  are  set  on  edge  ;  the 
fathers  have  sinned,  and  the  children 
are  not  responsible  for  their  sin."  How- 
familiar  it  all  sounds  !  It  is  the  same  ex- 
cuse that  we  are  hearing  every  day,  —  a 
half  truth,  which  becomes  a  lie  when  ex- 
aggerated into  the  whole  truth.  There- 
fore the  prophet  emphasized  the  other 
side  of  the  truth,  the  personal  responsi' 
bility  of  each  man  for  his  own  sins  or 
righteousness. 

"The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die. 
The  son  shall  not  bear  the  iniquity  of 
the  father,  neither  shall  the  father  bear 
the  iniquity  of  the  son.  The  righteous- 
ness of  the  righteous  shall  be  upon  him, 
and  the  wickedness  of  the  wicked  shall 
be  upon  him."  ^ 

Each  one  of  us,  from  birth  to  the  grave, 
is  by  thought,  word,  and  action  building 
up  his  life,  for  bad  or  for  good.  Each 
one  of  us  is  giving  a  set  to  his  charac- 
ter every  moment  that  he  lives,  either 
for  evil  or  for  righteousness.  The 
thought,  then,  that  I  want  to  bring  out 
^  Ezekiel  xviii.  20. 
36 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF   CHARACTER 

is  that  of  the  fixedness  of  character  for 
bad  and  for  good. 

Such  a  truth  comes  to  us  rather  natu- 
rally in  these  days,  when  the  inexorable 
laws  of  nature  are  so  clearly  brought  be- 
fore us  in  our  scientific  mode  of  thought. 
The  laws  of  our  body  are  just  as  inexorable 
as  are  the  other  laws  of  nature  as  seen  in 
geology  or  in  botany.  Any  abuse  of  the 
body,  any  sin  against  the  laws  of  health, 
is  going  to  wreak  its  vengeance  upon  the 
body  just  as  surely  as  a  burn  is  to  make 
a  scar.  Whether  that  sin  was  com- 
mitted long  ago  or  yesterday,  whether 
it  is  unknown  to  others  or  not,  whether 
the  effects  conceal  themselves  for  years 
or  not,  the  fact  stands  that  the  scar  is 
there.  Nature  has  been  violated,  and 
nature  will  reassert  itself.  I  do  not 
know  that  the  scientific  habit  of  mind 
has  any  greater  lesson  to  teach  us,  espe- 
cially those  who  are  young,  than  that 
fact.  We  know  how  easily  it  is  thrown 
aside.  The  young  are  strong  and  vig- 
orous, and  their  physiques  will  endure 
many  violations  of  the  laws  of  self-re- 
straint and  temperance  without  showing 
the  result.  Thus  they  are  led  to  think 
that  the  results  are  not  there.  What 
37 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF  CHARACTER 

they  want  to  weigh  in  their  minds  is 
this,  that  whether  the  results  show  them- 
selves or  not,  they  are  bound  to  be.  It 
is  in  the  neglect  of  this  law  that  people 
are  liable  to  condone  the  sins  of  those 
who  are  young,  and  to  say  that  they  are 
not  as  bad  as  those  of  more  mature  years. 
We  thus  fall  into  the  philosophy  that  it 
is  the  natural  thing  for  the  enthusiasms 
and  the  high  spirits  of  youth  to  work 
themselves  off  in  some  form  of  license 
or  debauchery  which  would  not  be  en- 
dured in  older  men.  So  we  drop  into 
the  habit  of  expecting  that  wild  oats  will 
be  sown,  and  that  there  is  no  help  for  it. 
In  all  honesty  it  must  be  said,  I  think, 
that  when  the  young  are  in  exceptional 
conditions,  perhaps  away  from  home  and 
without  the  restraints  of  family  life,  they 
are  more  liable  to  fall  into  temptation, 
and  to  do  things  which  they  never  would 
have  thought  of  doing  at  home.  Such 
sins  may  not  have  the  permanent  con- 
tinuance of  those  committed  in  other 
times  of  life,  because  of  the  temporary 
conditions.  When  those  conditions  have 
passed,  and  those  special  temptations  are 
left  behind,  the  young  man  will  not  have 
the  same  pressure  to  continue  in  the  evil 
.38 


THE  FIXEDNESS   OF  CHARACTER 

habit.  And  yet,  with  this  said,  the  fact 
stands  that  the  sin  is  a  sin  ;  the  viola- 
tion of  nature's  laws  is  a  sin  ;  and  even 
if  the  habit  is  not  continued,  for  those 
sins  nature  will  wreak  vengeance  in 
some  form  or  other.  The  young  man 
knows  that  he  has  sinned  against  him- 
self, against  his  whole  education,  against 
his  parents'  words  and  his  own  honor. 
He  is  ashamed  to  think  of  his  life  for 
the  past  three  months  in  connection 
with  his  home.  He  tries  to  set  it  apart 
and  excuse  himself  by  saying  that  this 
is  college  life,  or  this  is  city  life,  or 
this  is  life  in  Europe,  and  that  it  is 
a  temporary  matter;  and  that  that  is 
home  life. 

But  whether  this  is  temporary  or  not, 
the  man  is  the  same.  He  cannot  divide 
himself ;  he  goes  from  here  to  there, 
and  the  laws  of  the  spiritual  and  of  the 
physical  life  follow  him  wherever  he 
goes ;  what  he  does  here  has  its  result 
there.  The  sin  is  the  same  whether  un- 
der temporary  conditions  or  not,  and  the 
results  of  sin  are  the  same,  as  far  as  they 
affect  others.  When  a  man  has  to-day 
by  his  word  or  example  dragged  down 
one  of  his  fellows  a  step  lower  in  his 
39 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF   CHARACTER 

ideal ;  when  he  has  led  another  to  vio- 
late his  conscience ;  when  the  action  of  a 
man  who  has  been  brought  up  with  pure 
surroundings  is  bad,  and  thereby  leads 
another  to  degradation  :  he  may  go  to  his 
home  and  be  as  pure  as  he  pleases  ;  he 
may  attend  his  parish  church  and  receive 
the  communion  ;  he  may  be  counted 
most  respectable  and  try  to  be  most  re- 
spectable ;  but  all  the  time  those  whom 
he  has  left  behind,  those  whom  he  has 
touched  with  the  poison  of  his  life,  are 
going  into  further  degradation,  and  he 
alone  is  responsible.  The  more  respect- 
able he  becomes,  if  he  is  not  ashamed  of 
his  sin,  and  if  he  makes  no  effort  to  undo 
the  wrong  that  he  has  done,  the  more 
of  a  hypocrite  he  becomes.  In  fact,  I 
know  of  no  hypocrisy  equal  to  that  of  a 
man  who  has  sown  his  wild  oats,  as  it  is 
called,  who  has  led  others  into  degrada- 
tion, and  then,  tired  of  that  sort  of  life, 
settles  down  as  a  respectable  citizen  and 
a  good  Churchman,  without  repentance, 
without  shame,  and  without  the  effort  to 
do  something  to  recompense  for  his 
wickedness  ;  who  sets  himself  up  as  a 
model  of  social  virtue,  and  speaks  with 
pity  or  scorn  of  the  degraded  men  and 
40 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF   CHARACTER 

women  of  the  city  of  the  same  class  that 
he  led  to  degradation. 

Whether,  then,  the  sin  be  temporary, 
and  under  exceptional  surroundings,  the 
sin  is  the  same  in  its  essence,  in  its  re- 
sults upon  others;  and  —  this  is  the  next 
point  —  it  is  the  same  in  its  results  upon 
the  man  himself. 

You  know  that  there  are  certain  chem- 
ical properties  which  in  certain  combi- 
nations make  heat,  and  in  others  make 
light,  and  in  others  make  power.  So, 
sin  does  not  assert  itself  in  its  results  in 
the  same  form,  but  it  reveals  itself  in 
the  most  unexpected  ways.  An  old  man, 
for  instance,  may  be  querulous,  selfish, 
and  autocratic,  and  yet  he  seems  to  be 
in  his  way  a  religious  man.  Trace  back 
his  life  forty  or  fifty  years  ;  and  in  the 
yielding  to  the  sins  of  youth,  in  intem- 
perance and  other  excesses,  you  will 
find  the  seeds  of  this  irritability  of  old 
age.  One  would  have  said  that  nature 
would  have  wreaked  her  vengeance  be- 
fore and  in  other  forms,  but  nature  is 
most  interesting  in  the  unexpectedness 
with  which  she  acts. 

There  is  many  a  man  on  the  border 
line  of  chronic  sin,  of  a  bondage  to  some 
41 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF   CHARACTER 

evil  habit,  who  will  not  fall  into  the  form 
of  the  bondage  which  others  expect ;  he 
will  not  end  in  the  gutter  ;  but  he  is  en- 
tering into  some  form  of  bondage  which 
will  be  just  as  strong  as  the  more  open 
bondage  of  the  drunkard.  You  know 
young  men  who  come  to  Cambridge  with 
high  ideals,  pure  life,  and  a  sensitiveness 
to  the  touch  of  sin,  who  in  the  course  of 
six  months  or  a  year  are  different.  At 
first,  they  have  thoughtlessly  yielded  ; 
then  they  have  gone  deeper.  Now  it  is 
useless  to  say  that  they  are  going  to  the 
bad,  that  they  will  surely  fall  into  bond- 
age to  the  lower  vices  ;  some  of  them 
will,  many  of  them  will  not.  They  will 
recover  themselves,  and  in  two  or  three 
years,  tired  of  their  foolish  ways,  will 
settle  down.  What  harm,  then,  has 
come  from  it  ?  Why  should  n't  one  pass 
through  this  temporary  phase  of  life,  if 
the  danger  is  not  great .''  This  harm 
comes  :  that  every  one  of  them,  as  they 
enter  into  their  better  and  more  staid 
life,  will  be  men  of  lower  tone  and  of 
less  vigorous  character  than  if  they  had 
not  sinned.  Some  result  is  just  as  sure 
as  fate.  The  spiritual  laws  work  with 
the  same  exactness  as  the  physical  laws. 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF   CHARACTER 

It  is  impossible  for  a  man  to  sin  against 
his  ideal,  and  to  hold  the  same  ideal  with 
all  the  firmness  of  the  past.  This  is  the 
heavy  weight  that  social  life  and  college 
life  have  to  bear  to-day,  that  so  many 
men  who  pass  through,  and  in  passing 
through  enter  upon  some  phase  of  sin, 
are  now  living,  on  the  whole,  excellent 
lives,  and  yet  who,  because  of  their  own 
past,  do  not  uphold  the  high  ideal  of 
youth  which  belongs  to  youth.  They 
dare  not  go  back  on  their  record  and 
rebuke  the  sin  of  which  they  are  guilty, 
lest  they  accuse  themselves  of  hypo- 
crisy. So  their  mouths  are  shut,  or  else 
they  yield  to  the  popular  idea  that  these 
things  must  be ;  that  a  certain  propor- 
tion of  youth  have  got  to  go  wrong  for 
awhile.  It  is  a  lie  ;  for  a  certain  pro- 
portion of  youth  do  not  have  to  go 
wrong.  How  many  go  wrong  is  depend- 
ent largely  upon  the  conditions  which 
surround  them,  upon  the  ideals  which 
they  gain  from  their  home  and  school 
life.  The  moral  tone  varies  in  various 
years,  and  if  the  community  would  lift 
its  standard  and  its  expectation,  there 
would  be  a  lift  in  the  life  of  all  of  us. 
Here,  then,  my  friends,  is  the  terror 
43 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF  CHARACTER 

of  sin,  —  in  its  fixedness.  The  tendency 
to  sin  again  is  the  punishment  of  sin. 
The  tendency  to  sin,  mark  you,  not  in 
the  same  form,  necessarily,  but  in  some 
form.  In  that  incarnate  son  of  sin,  Ju- 
das, you  can  see  how  the  same  character 
cropped  out  first  in  the  fictitious  jealousy 
in  behalf  of  the  poor,  that  the  money 
spent  in  the  ointment  should  not  be 
wasted,  but  should  be  given  to  the  poor  ; 
it  took  another  form  in  his  conversation 
with  Jesus.  But  sin  had  so  fixed  itself 
on  his  character  that  when  the  crisis 
came,  and  our  Lord  pointed  him  out 
with  the  words,  "  That  thou  doest,  do 
quickly,"  Judas  rose  and  went  to  his 
work  of  betrayal  as  automatically  as  the 
drunkard  seeks  his  glass.  He  was  un- 
der the  bondage  of  sin  all  the  time, 
though  it  showed  itself  in  varied  forms, 
and  was  finally  revealed  in  the  treacher- 
ous kiss  and  the  miserable  suicide. 

I  have  been  taking  for  the  illustration 
of  our  truth  only  one  class,  the  tempta- 
tions and  sins  of  young  men. 

But  the  truth  holds  just  as  firmly  in 
all  characters,  ages,  and  classes. 

The  keen  business  man  who  concen- 
44 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF   CHARACTER 

trates  his  whole  life  upon  business  suc- 
cess, in  his  success  finds  that  nature  is 
wreaking  vengeance  on  the  physique  and 
character.  The  nerves  give  way  early, 
or  the  higher  tastes  and  the  ennobling 
thoughts  of  youth  leave  him,  or  he  is 
haunted  by  the  low  ambition  of  increas- 
ing his  fortune  with  no  purpose  for  its 
use.  He  realizes  the  foolishness  of  it, 
but  he  cannot  help  enslaving  himself  to 
make  money. 

The  young  woman  yielding  herself  to 
society  finds  that,  when  the  freshness 
has  gone  and  others  have  taken  her 
place,  she  has  been  developing  a  love  of 
excitement  which  must  be  satisfied  in 
some  form  ;  and  she  takes  to  aimless 
traveling,  or  emotional  religion,  or  de- 
moralizing novels,  or  anything  to  keep 
up  the  excitement  of  life.  She  has  lost 
the  power  of  repose,  and  of  the  quiet 
enjoyment  of  life,  which  is  one  of  the 
beauties  of  womanhood. 

Sin,  then,  when  it  becomes  fixed  in 
the  character,  gives  it  a  set  so  strong  and 
hard,  that  in  time  the  character  moves 
like  an  automatic  slave,  and  the  will,  the 
intellect,  and  the  body  come  into  per- 
fect bondage.  Do  not  understand  me  as 
45 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF   CHARACTER 

saying  that  all  sin  comes  to  this  perfect 
bondage.  But  what  I  do  say,  even 
though  I  repeat  it  too  often,  is  that 
every  sin  has  its  inexorable  result,  and 
will  wreak  its  vengeance  upon  the  spir- 
itual, the  intellectual,  and  the  physical 
texture  of  the  man. 

But  here  arises  a  question  which  some 
of  you  may  have  been  asking  yourselves  : 
Is  this  the  gospel .''  Do  we  not  hear  that 
Christ  came  to  save  us  from  sin,  and 
that  if  we  will  believe  Him,  and  trust  in 
His  atonement,  our  sins  shall  be  wiped 
out,  and  we  shall  be  washed  in  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb  .-'  Is  it  not  possible  for  the 
deepest-dyed  sinner  to  claim  Jesus  as  his 
Saviour,  and  thus  begin  life  afresh .'' 

Here  we  must  draw  the  distinction 
between  sin  in  its  relation  to  man,  and 
in  its  relation  to  God.  You  notice  that 
I  have  been  speaking  of  the  effect  of  sin 
in  the  character.  I  have  not  suggested 
the  more  important  relation,  that  of  the 
sinner  to  God ;  I  have  not  suggested 
that  the  essential  evil  of  sin  is  not  first 
in  its  results  upon  the  character,  but  in 
that  it  is  the  separation  of  a  man  from 
God.  It  is  true  that  the  deepest-dyed 
sinner  may  repent  and  turn  to  God,  and 
46 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF   CHARACTER 

ask  pardon  in  the  name  of  his  Son, 
Jesus  Christ.  It  is  true  that  God,  look- 
ing into  the  heart  of  that  sinner,  and 
seeing  in  it  the  spirit  of  humility,  hope, 
and  of  striving  after  purity,  will  look 
over  the  sin,  will  overlook  it,  as  did  the 
father  when  he  received  home  the  prod- 
igal. And  the  repentant  sinner  may 
dwell  in  perfect  confidence  and  peace 
with  the  Father,  as  did  the  prodigal  for 
the  rest  of  his  life  in  his  father's  home. 
No  mention  will  be  made  by  the  Father  of 
the  past,  no  old  scores  called  up,  so  long 
as  there  remains  that  spirit  of  submis- 
sion and  dependence  upon  God's  love. 
So  life  went  on  in  the  home  of  the  prodi- 
gal after  his  return ;  so  life  goes  on  here 
and  in  the  next  world,  where  repentant 
children  of  God  trust  their  heavenly  Fa- 
ther. 

But  think  you  that  the  prodigal  was 
ever  guilty  of  the  thought  that  he  was  as 
if  he  had  never  sinned  ?  Think  you  that 
he  never  looked  back  with  the  deepest 
sorrow  at  his  ingratitude  to  the  father, 
at  his  low  indulgence,  at  his  treachery  to 
all  the  ideals  that  he  had  gained  in  his 
father's  home  .-'  More  than  this,  must 
there  not  have  followed  him,  like  a  night- 
47 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF   CHARACTER 

mare,  the  faces  of  those  whom  he  had 
sinned  against,  whom  he  had  led  to 
sin ;  who  had  been  the  recipients  of  his 
bounty  and  the  sharers  of  his  feasts  ? 
While  he  was  in  his  father's  home,  they 
were  going  on  and  on,  down  into  degra- 
dation, they  were  carrying  his  words,  ay, 
they  were  carrying  a  part  of  his  very  self, 
into  the  lowest  haunts  of  life  ;  it  seemed 
as  if  a  fraction  of  his  heart  had  been  torn 
from  him  and  had  gone  with  them.  No ; 
his  return  home,  his  father's  love  and 
pardon,  did  not  undo  the  past  as  far  as 
he  and  they  were  concerned.  There  was 
nothing  but  to  turn  to  the  father  again, 
to  gain  a  renewed  pledge  of  his  love,  to 
do  what  he  could  to  redeem  those  of  the 
class  that  he  had  started  down  hill,  and 
what  he  could  to  redeem  himself.  His 
sin  was  washed  out  as  far  as  his  father 
was  concerned  ;  but  as  far  as  he  and  they 
were  concerned,  the  sorrow  and  the  ef- 
fects of  the  sin  still  stayed  by  him  and 
tempered  the  joy  of  his  whole  life. 

This  brings  us  on  to  the  other  side  of 
the  truth  of  the  fixedness  of  character ; 
"and  the  righteousness  of  the  right- 
eous shall  be  upon  him."  Now  we  take 
up  the  truth  of  the  continuity  of  human 
48 


THE    FIXEDNESS   OF   CHARACTER 

life  with  a  glow  of  hope  and  gratitude. 
Every  pure  thought,  true  word,  and  no- 
ble deed  turned  into  the  stream  of  life 
will  tend  eternally  to  purify  it.  Every 
temptation  overcome  is  one  step  towards 
the  victory  over  another  and  a  greater 
temptation.  Every  movement  towards 
the  truth  gives  a  momentum  to  the  life 
which  makes  the  next  step  more  buoyant 
and  strong.  Ay,  have  you  ever  thought  of 
it  as  parents,  that  your  hidden  thoughts 
and  secret  ambitions,  if  they  be  spiritual 
and  true,  are  doing  something  in  behalf 
of  leading  the  next  generation  of  children 
towards  the  truth .''  Have  you  never 
heard  one  say  in  excuse  for  some  wrong- 
doing, that  it  is  so  easy  for  So-and-so  to 
do  right,  but  so  hard  for  himself  .-'  Have 
you  not  heard  another  say,  in  excuse  for 
his  selfishness,  that  it  is  a  wrench  for 
him  to  give,  but  as  for  So-and-so  it  has 
become  such  a  habit  that  he  likes  to  give  .'' 
And  has  it  never  occurred  to  you  that 
such  an  excuse  is  the  greatest  condem- 
nation that  a  man  can  bring  upon  him- 
self ?  The  glorious  thing  about  the  ease 
of  being  virtuous,  and  the  pleasure  of 
giving,  is  not  that  it  leads  to  this  or  that 
virtuous  act,  or  this  or  that  gift ;  but 
49 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF   CHARACTER 

that  it  is  a  symptom  of  the  character 
which  has  for  years  been  tending  to- 
wards the  higher  life  and  the  generous 
impulses,  so  that  when  the  opportunity 
comes  the  act  is  almost  automatic. 

One  of  the  leading  physiologists  of 
this  country,  in  speaking  of  the  incident 
of  Sir  Philip  Sidney  dying  on  the  battle- 
field and  refusing  to  take  the  cup  of 
water  which  another  soldier  needed,  told 
me  that  he  did  not  think  it  cost  Sir 
Philip  Sidney  any  effort ;  in  fact,  he 
questioned  whether  Sidney  recognized 
the  beauty  of  the  act.  On  my  express- 
ing surprise,  he  said,  "  Why,  the  fact  is, 
that  as  a  physiologist,  I  believe  that  the 
gentle  and  true  life  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 
his  self-restraint  and  his  almost  perfect 
poise  of  character  throughout  the  devel- 
opment of  his  manhood,  had  gradually 
led  him  to  a  point  where  he  was  physi- 
cally, morally,  and  spiritually  so  balanced 
that  it  cost  him  no  effort  to  do  any  ac- 
tion which  we  call  heroic.  It  was  auto- 
matic to  him,  and  herein,  not  in  that  act 
on  the  battlefield,  but  in  the  nobility  of 
his  character,  is  seen  the  admirable  fea- 
ture of  Sir  Philip  Sidney."  What  a 
glorious  thing  it  would  be  if  we  should 
SO 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF   CHARACTER 

only  begin  now,  and  determining  with 
God's  help  never  to  do  anything  that 
our  conscience  disapproved,  never  to 
yield  one  jot  from  the  purity  of  our  best 
ideals,  never  to  show  one  sign  of  moral 
cowardice  beneath  the  scoff  or  the  si- 
lence of  our  friends,  and  with  all  the 
force  of  our  character  devote  ourselves 
to  what  is  pure,  true,  lovely,  and  of  good 
report  ;  and  gradually  gain  such  poise  of 
character,  as  we  must,  if  we  continue, 
that  purity  of  word  and  thought  will  be- 
come automatic,  and  that  every  action, 
under  the  impulse  of  this  leading  motive, 
will  be  towards  the  highest  ideals  of  life. 
And  what  is  that,  my  friends,  but  the 
saying,  once  and  for  all,  "  I  am  going  to 
take  Jesus  Christ  as  my  example,  my 
leader,  my  Saviour,  and  my  only  test  of 
character  ?  From  this  time  forth  I  am 
going  to  cut  myself  off  from  associations 
which  I  know  are  doubtful  ;  from  habits 
which  I  know  are  demoralizing,  and  from 
acts  which  I  know,  however  much  I  may 
try  to  deceive  myself,  will  have  their  bad 
results  in  me  in  the  years  to  come,  and  I 
am  going  to  devote  myself  squarely  and 
honestly  to  doing  what  I  believe  is  right 
in  the  name  of  my  Master."  Do  this, 
SI 


THE   FIXEDNESS   OF   CHARACTER 

ask  God's  help,  lean  upon  God  for  your 
support,  keep  the  spirit  of  Christ  beside 
you,  and  you  have  given  a  set  to  your 
character  which  will  be  like  the  spring 
torrent  to  the  sluggish  river.  That  set 
once  made,  and  your  resolution  held,  you 
will  move  on  through  the  stream  of  life, 
ever  purer  and  stronger ;  and  in  the 
course  of  years,  who  knows  what  a  glori- 
ous manhood  will  be  yours  ? 
52 


IV 

THE   WORTH    OF    ONE    FACT  ^ 

"  He  answered  and  said,  Whether  he 
be  a  sinner  or  no,  I  know  not :  one  thing 
I  know,  that,  whereas  I  was  blind,  now 
I  see."  2 

It  was  a  sturdy  answer  from  an  honest 
man.  In  fact,  there  is,  it  seems  to  me, 
no  character  roughly  sketched  in  the 
Gospel,  that  exhibits  such  honest,  simple 
and  manly  traits  as  does  that  of  the  beg- 
gar who  spoke  these  words.  He  was  so 
frank  in  manner,  so  true  to  himself  and 
his  benefactor,  so  unassuming  in  his 
courage  and  so  simple  in  his  faith,  that 
we  cannot  help  being  attracted  to  him 
and  to  a  study  of  the  secret  of  his  char- 
acter. 

That  morning  of  the  miracle,  he  had 
waked,  as  he  had  every  morning  from 
the  day  of  his  birth,  totally  blind.     He 

1  Appleton  Chapel,  Harvard  University,  December 
II,  1887. 

2  John  ix.  25. 

53 


THE   WORTH  OF  ONE  FACT 

had  groped  his  way  to  his  customary 
place  on  the  street,  where  he  might  most 
successfully  touch  the  pity  of  the  passers 
by.  To  him,  light,  color,  the  beauties  of 
nature  and  of  the  human  face  were  un- 
known things,  except  as  he  had  heard 
them  described  by  others.  Soon,  how- 
ever, a  sound  of  many  feet  reached  his 
ears  ;  a  crowd  was  approaching.  He  is, 
before  he  knows  it,  the  centre  of  obser- 
vation :  for  one  voice  asks,  "  Master,  who 
did  sin,  this  man  or  his  parents,  that  he 
was  born  blind  ? "  The  answer  comes  in 
words  and  tone  that  must  have  sent  a 
thrill  through  him  :  "  Neither  hath  this 
man  sinned,  nor  his  parents  :  but  that  the 
works  of  God  should  be  made  manifest 
in  him."  "  As  long  as  I  am  in  the  world, 
I  am  the  Light  of  the  world."  He  feels 
upon  his  eyes  the  touch  of  the  marvel- 
ous stranger  ;  he  goes  without  question, 
almost  without  thought,  to  Siloam, 
washes,  and  on  the  moment  the  sun 
flashes  into  his  eyes.  Bewildered,  al- 
most stunned,  he  starts  to  return,  when 
down  comes  the  crowd  upon  him  ;  neigh- 
bors whose  voices  are  so  familiar  and 
whose  faces  are  so  strange,  Pharisees, 
all  kinds,  press  on  him  with  their  hur- 
54 


THE   WORTH   OF   ONE   FACT 

ried  questions  :  "  How  were  thine  eyes 
opened  ?  "  "  Who  opened  thine  eyes  ?  " 
"  Where  is  he  ? "  "  Is  this,  after  all,  the 
same  man  ? "  "  What  sayest  thou  of 
him  ?  "  "  It  is  the  sabbath  ;  the  healer 
must  be  a  sinner  to  heal  on  the  sabbath 
day."  Pressed,  dazed,  the  man  holds 
firmly  to  one  fact.  Those  questions  he 
cannot  answer,  where  he  is,  who  he  is. 
"  Whether  he  be  a  sinner  or  no,  I  know 
not."  One  fact  in  his  own  experience 
he  does  know,  and  he  will  stand  by  that 
whatever  comes:  "  But  one  thing  I  know, 
that  whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I  see." 
No  questions  or  threats  can  make  him 
deny  that.  That  one  fact  was  in  this 
crisis  and  bewilderment  his  salvation,  for 
it  was  one  from  his  own  experience. 

This,  then,  is  what  I  think  stands  at 
the  bottom  of  the  man's  character,  his 
appreciation  of  the  worth  of  one  fact 
from  his  own  experience.  Our  study  to- 
day is  therefore  the  worth  of  one  fact 
founded  upon  our  own  spiritual  experi- 
ence. 

Looking  back  over  many  young  peo- 
ple's early  religious  life,  I  think  that  a 
rough  sketch  of  their  growth  may  be 
something  like  this.  The  Bible  and  its 
55 


THE    WORTH   OF   ONE   FACT 

lessons  are  learned  in  childhood.  They 
are,  of  course,  accepted  on  the  authority 
of  our  parents  or  teacher.  The  child 
grows  into  maturity.  On  the  same  au- 
thority the  creeds  are  learned  and  re- 
peated Sunday  by  Sunday.  The  ideas 
on  inspiration,  prayer,  and  many  other 
truths  are  all  accepted,  and  the  boy,  now 
a  young  man,  is  called  a  pattern  Chris- 
tian and  a  loyal  Churchman.  The  fond 
hope  of  parent  or  teacher  is  that  he  is 
going  through  life  without  a  suspicion 
of  doubt,  holding  to  these  truths  which 
have  never  by  any  experience  of  his  own 
become  a  part  of  himself  ;  they  have  just 
as  little  to  do  with  his  own  inner  spir- 
itual experience,  if  he  takes  them  merely 
on  the  authority  of  others,  as  has  his 
knowledge  of  geography  or  history  which 
he  learned  at  the  same  time. 

Sometimes  that  fond  hope  is  fulfilled. 
The  boy  grows  into  manhood,  and,  as  he 
grows,  he  accepts  the  truths  just  as  they 
were  given  him  ;  he  never  questions  one 
of  them,  and  by  his  own  spiritual  experi- 
ence he  makes  them  a  part  of  himself. 
His  is  an  exceptional  and  a  placid,  happy 
experience,  without  the  rough  usage,  the 
anxieties,  the  disappointments  of  a  spir- 
56 


THE   WORTH   OF   ONE   FACT 

itual  struggle,  and  (we  must  also  add) 
without  its  satisfaction  and  its  hard  won 
victories. 

Far  different  from  that  placid  life  is 
the  experience  of  most  young  men  in 
these  days. 

We  have  had  those  truths  given  us. 
We  have  accepted  them  without  deep 
thought.  We  have  lived  on  in  the  com- 
fortable sense  that  we  were  all  right ;  we 
know  what  a  man  ought  to  believe,  and 
what  the  church  through  her  teachers 
has  told  us  to  believe.  The  system  all 
seems  so  nice  and  strong  and  respect- 
able —  no  deep  thought  necessary  —  just 
take  the  truths  and  theories  as  they  come. 

But  some  day  we  wake,  we  say  our 
prayers  as  usual,  we  begin  our  daily 
work  ;  when  suddenly  or  gradually  the 
whole  thing  seems  to  have  changed.  An 
acquaintance  comes  along  and  asks, 
"  How  can  God  answer  a  man's  prayer.?" 
"  How  can  He  change  his  laws  for  one 
insignificant  atom  calling  himself  a 
man  ?  "  We  had  not  thought  of  it  in 
that  way ;  we  had  not  thought  at  all,  in 
fact ;  we  had  been  used  to  saying  our 
prayers.  "  It  is  the  right  thing  to  do,  all 
good  people  do  it,"  we  answer,  "  and  — 
57 


THE   WORTH   OF   ONE   FACT 

well" — we  have   to   confess    ourselves 
defeated. 

Or,  in  the  subject  of  inspiration  of 
the  Bible.  We  know  what  we  have  been 
taught ;  but  the  questioner  presses  in  ; 
we  confess  that  "  we  do  not  see  how 
every  word  is  inspired ;  it  certainly  does 
seem  as  if  there  must  be  some  differ- 
ences of  statement  between  different  de- 
scriptions of  the  same  scene.  Yes  ;  our 
ideas  cannot  exactly  meet  the  facts  ;  we 
shall  have  to  find  out  about  it  —  and  — 
well,"  again  we  are  pushed  to  surrender. 

So  the  story  goes;  one  or  another  of 
those  beliefs  that  we  had  thought  so 
strong  and  true  is  hit,  and  for  aught  that 
we  can  see,  riddled  at  the  first  fire. 

But  the  real  danger  is,  not  that  we 
shall  let  that  one  belief  go,  but  as  that 
is  wrapped  up  as  part  and  parcel  with 
our  whole  system,  we  shall,  in  our  first 
bewilderment,  let  the  whole  thing  go 
without  striking  a  blow  in  its  defence. 
Because  the  enemy  have  knocked  in  some 
ancient  and  shaky  wall  around  the  be- 
sieged city,  is  no  reason  for  the  garrison 
in  the  well-tried  and  strongly  armed  cit- 
adel to  become  demoralized  and  try  to 
escape  with  their  lives. 
58 


THE   WORTH   OF   ONE   FACT 

Yet  this  is  what  we  see  every  day. 

A  man,  because  he  has  had  his  faith 
shaken  in  one  or  two  of  his  childhood 
beliefs,  immediately  calls  himself  a 
doubter,  as  if  there  were  something 
praiseworthy  in  the  fact  that  he  has  sur- 
rendered without  a  blow  that  which  he 
is  bound  to  hold  as  long  as  he  consist- 
ently can. 

Another,  who  has  running  in  his  veins 
generations  of  Christian  blood,  whose 
whole  tone  and  best  traits  of  character 
come  from  a  Christian,  praying.  God- 
fearing lineage,  finds  himself  puzzled, 
even  bewildered.  He  cannot  answer  the 
questions  that  press  in  on  him  :  how  a 
just  God  can  allow  such  misery  as  man 
sometimes  endures,  or  why  He  permits 
sin.  His  brain  cannot  solve  the  infinite  ; 
and  so  "  he  knows  nothing,"  he  says,  "he 
makes  no  pretensions  to  know  or  believe 
anything  above  or  beyond  the  facts  of 
life,"  as  he  calls  them  ;  as  if  God  work- 
ing in  man  were  not  a  fact  of  life.  He 
revels  in  the  name  of  Agnostic,  as  if 
there  were  some  peculiar  charm  in  a 
man's  thus  easily  throwing  off  all 
thought  of  deeper,  spiritual  subjects. 

Do  not  understand  me  as  saying  that 
59 


THE   WORTH    OF   ONE    FACT 

there  are  not  men  of  honest,  earnest, 
and  noble  character  who,  in  a  most  con- 
scientious and  courageous  way,  give  up 
beliefs  in  which  they  have  been  educated 
and  set  themselves  outside  of  all  posi- 
tively spiritual  faiths.  But  I  do  also  say 
that  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  weakness 
and  cowardice  in  men,  who,  because  they 
have  lost  something  of  their  old  belief, 
without  the  trouble  of  stopping  to  think, 
throw  the  whole  thing  overboard,  and 
then  take  it  upon  themselves  to  sneer 
at  those  who  have  the  mental  balance 
and  courage  to  hold  on  to  what  they  have 
until  they  see  good  reason  to  drop  it.  It 
is  not  always  the  honest  believer  who 
is  shallow  in  thought  and  weak  in  action, 
as  some  would  have  us  think.  Far  from 
it. 

But  when  a  young  man  finds  himself 
in  such  a  crisis  as  we  have  suggested, 
when  certain  ideas  have  got  to  go,  and 
he  is  becoming  bewildered,  what  can  he 
do  .''     What  is  there  to  save  him  .'' 

That  which  saved  the  man  from  the 
questions  of  that  pushing  crowd  ;  one  fact 
caught  from  our  own  spiritual  experi- 
ence. It  makes  but  little  matter  what 
that  fact  is,  provided  only  that  it  is  our 
60 


THE   WORTH   OF   ONE   FACT 

own,  inwrought  into  our  own  thought 
and  life.  We  must  be  able  to  say,  "  One 
thing  I  know,"  and  I  tell  you  it  is  an 
immense  safety  to  really  know  even  only 
one  thing.  To  know,  for  instance,  by 
your  own  experience,  that  it  is  right 
every  time  to  do  right,  and  wrong  every 
time  to  do  wrong,  is  an  anchor  that  holds 
many  a  man  from  drifting  into  utter 
recklessness  in  life  ;  —  to  know  that 
whatever  be  the  questions  about  prayer, 
prayer  does  give  comfort,  help,  and  in- 
spiration ;  —  to  know  by  your  own  self 
that  whatever  be  the  theory  of  inspira- 
tion, there  is  a  something  in  the  Bible 
that  has  helped  you  as  nothing  else  ever 
did  ;  —  to  have  tested,  not  through  the 
authority  of  another,  but  in  our  own  life, 
the  real  comfort  and  satisfaction  in  the 
forgiveness  of  one  of  our  sins  through 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  To  have  only  one 
such  experience  to  fall  back  upon,  to  be 
so  convinced  of  its  reality  to  us,  that  we 
can  say  that  that  is  one  thing  which 
we  know,  even  though  the  whole  world 
gainsaid  it,  is  to  have  a  hold  on  spiritual 
things  which  is  of  inestimable  value. 

Do  not  believe  the  theory  that  religion 
is  a  mere  matter  of  the  feelings,  a  blind 
6i 


THE   WORTH   OF   ONE   FACT 

unassured  trust  in  something  that  no 
one  has  ever  seen,  and  that  therefore 
has  no  reality  and  no  certainty.  No ! 
faith  is  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen, 
and  to  the  man  of  faith  it  is  as  good  as 
if  he  had  seen. 

Granted,  then,  that  we  are  ready  and 
glad  to  hold  on  to  even  one  well-earned 
spiritual  fact,  —  what  will  be  the  effect 
on  us,  on  our  questioners,  and  on  the 
truth  ? 

In  the  first  place,  it  sifts  our  faith  in 
such  a  way  that  we  immediately  recog- 
nize what  is  our  own  faith,  and  what  is 
that  which  we  thought  was  our  own,  but 
in  fact  was  not. 

When  a  man  has  been  living  beyond 
his  means,  and  has  mortgaged  his  house 
and  other  property,  and  then  meets  a 
financial  crisis,  he  soon  finds  what  is  his 
and  what  is  another's ;  he  comes  down 
to  hard  facts,  and  it  is  a  good  thing  for 
him.  He  would  have  been  glad  to  put 
off  the  evil  day  of  bankruptcy,  but  it  had 
to  come,  and,  in  truth,  the  earlier  the 
better. 

When  a  man  has  been  living  on  a 
faith  that  is  not  his  own,  and  meets  a 
62 


THE   WORTH   OF   ONE    FACT 

spiritual  crisis,  what  was  not  his  disap- 
pears ;  but  that  which  is  his,  which  by 
experience  he  had  made  his  own,  stands 
out  sharp  and  clear  and  true.  Some 
would  have  the  crisis  put  off  ;  there  are 
timid  spirits  that  would  keep  a  man 
from  thinking  and  questioning  lest  the 
crisis  should  come.  No  !  it  will  come ; 
and  it  is  well  that  it  should  come  before 
the  enthusiasms  of  life  are  over. 

How  that  sifting  does  humble  a  man  ! 
how  honest  it  makes  him !  Before  it, 
there  was  nothing  he  did  not  pretend 
to  know  and  believe.  He  could  tell  you 
all  about  religion.  You  know  men  who 
have  the  whole  thing  systematized. 
There  is  no  question  of  the  deep  things 
of  God,  of  the  Saviour,  of  inspiration, 
nothing  in  heaven  above  or  the  earth 
beneath,  that  they  cannot  tell  you  all 
about,  at  least  to  their  own  satisfaction. 
To  confess  ignorance  of  anything  seems 
to  them  equal  to  a  confession  of  defeat. 
But  the  man  who  has  passed  the  crisis 
is  questioned  :  ''  How  does  the  Spirit 
touch  the  heart  of  man  ?  "  "  Where  are 
heaven  and  hell  ?  "  "  We  know  that  Jesus 
was  only  an  enthusiast,  self-deceived." 
How  sturdy  the  answer,  "  Whether  that 
63 


THE   WORTH   OF   ONE   FACT 

be  true  or  not,  I  do  not  pretend  to  say  : 
how  many  things  may  be  reconciled  I  do 
not  know ;  but  there  are  a  few  facts 
which  are  to  me  as  my  hfe,  that  I  do 
know,  and  no  questionings  or  sneers 
can  take  them  from  me."  The  man  is 
thus  toned  up  in  humility  and  honesty, 
ready  to  confess  ignorance,  no  less  ready 
and  quick  to  insist  on  what  is  to  him  the 
truth. 

Another  effect  is  seen  in  the  story  of 
the  man.  Those  questions  of  the  neigh- 
bors turn  into  open  hostility  ;  the  Phari- 
sees have  taken  the  matter  up ;  the 
healer  is  a  sinner  for  healing  on  the 
sabbath  day  ;  therefore  the  healed  man 
must  be  thrown  out  of  the  synagogue, 
excommunicated,  cut  off  from  friends 
and  old  associations.  With  what  quiet, 
modest  courage  he  bears  himself!  It 
was  the  courage  born  of  firm  conviction, 
a  conviction  founded  on  facts. 

It  is  the  same  story,  told  a  thousand 
times.  Science  changes  its  methods 
from  theory  to  a  study  of  facts ;  and  with 
what  quiet  confidence  may  she  then 
throw  down  all  theories  and  superstitions 
that  do  not  conform  to  the  facts  ! 

St.  Peter,  before  the  Resurrection, 
64 


THE   WORTH   OF   ONE    FACT 

may  deny  his  Master ;  but  once  sure 
of  the  fact  of  the  Resurrection,  that 
same  Peter  will  calmly  face  and  rebuke 
a  whole  city  of  Jews  and  murderers. 
It  is  the  conviction  of  a  few  simple, 
but  very  deep  truths  that  has  sent  the 
missionaries  all  over  the  world,  that  has 
put  courage  into  thousands  of  men's 
hearts,  and  has  given  every  martyr 
that  has  ever  died  for  Christ  his  assur- 
ance. 

The  creed  that  we  recite  every  Sun- 
day, called  the  Apostles'  Creed,  is  simply 
a  statement  of  facts  ;  no  theorizing,  no 
inferences,  but  truths  direct  from  the 
Scriptures,  and  more  than  that,  capable 
of  coming  direct  from  every  believer's 
heart.  Because  our  Church  has  these 
facts  for  her  foundation,  and  no  elaborate 
form  of  belief  for  her  members,  we  know 
that  she  must  be  a  church  of  courage 
and  missionary  spirit.  But  to  come  to 
ourselves.  We  have  these  questions 
pressed  on  us  :  "  You  really  do  not  think 
the  Christian  religion  is  necessary  to 
civilization,  do  you  .?  "  "  Has  n't  the  day 
for  Christianity  about  passed  .-*  "  Ay  ! 
the  questioners  burst  forth  into  Phari- 
saic hostility.  "  Jesus  is  not  even  the 
6S 


THE   WORTH   OF   ONE   FACT 

ideal  man ;  his  religion  is  a  block,  a  hin- 
drance to  civilization.     Away  with  it  ! " 

How  is  that  to  be  met  ?  Only  by 
quiet,  unmoved  courage  that  will  dare  to 
assert  its  conviction  in  the  simple  truths 
of  Christ's  religion,  that  whatever  comes 
will  be  ready  to  say,  ^^  I  know,''  and  that 
will  be  ready  to  stand  by  its  convictions. 

I  am  not  speaking  of  the  future  ;  but 
now,  in  these  very  days,  just  that  cour- 
ageous spirit  is  wanted  in  our  different 
walks  of  life,  in  society,  in  conversation, 
in  our  student  life ;  a  spirit  to  simply 
state  its  faith,  whatever  that  may  be,  and 
firmly  live  up  to  it. 

One  other  result  must  follow.  What- 
ever the  faith  may  be,  however  limited, 
if  it  is  a  man's  own  and  lived  up  to,  it 
will  be  sure  to  increase. 

You  may  see  this  by  one  last  look  at 
that  man's  experience.  He  was  turned 
out  of  the  synagogue,  friendless  and 
homeless,  but  content  with  his  one  con- 
viction, even  though  he  had  never  seen 
his  healer. 

The  Saviour  seeks  him  out  and  asks 

him,  "Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son  of 

God  }  "    "  Who  is  He,  Lord,  that  I  might 

believe  on  Him  }  "  i-s  the  answer.     Jesus 

66 


THE   WORTH    OF  ONE   FACT 

says  to  him,  "  Thou  hast  both  seen  him, 
and  it  is  he  that  talketh  with  thee." 
"  Lord,  I  believe,"  and  he  worshipped 
Him. 

Because  he  had  that  one  truth,  he  was 
sure  to  be  led  on  to  higher  truths. 

Faith  is  not  a  thing  that  can  stand 
still ;  it  must  grow  or  die.  One  convic- 
tion must  lead  on  to  another,  or  the  first 
will  in  time  be  lost.  If  a  man  stands  by 
the  truth  he  has,  some  day,  in  some 
form,  Christ,  who  is  the  Truth,  will  pour 
into  his  heart  another  and  another.  If 
a  man  has  faith  enough  to  do  His  will, 
he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine.  Never  be 
content,  then,  to  live  and  believe  only 
just  and  exactly  what  you  believe  to-day  ; 
look  for  higher  and  larger  things,  a 
deeper  faith,  a  stronger  assurance,  and 
a  firmer  hope.  Jesus  has  promised  that 
he  who  seeks  shall  find,  and  He  keeps 
his  promises.  He  who  has  given  you 
one  truth,  will,  if  you  are  honest  and 
earnest,  if  you  live  courageously  up  to 
that  truth,  lead  you  on  and  on,  through 
this  life  and  the  next,  into  all  Truth. 
67 


V 

A    SKILFUL    DEFENCE  ^ 

There  are  few  chapters  in  the  Old 
Testament  so  full  of  interest  and  action, 
so  infused  with  faith  and  the  martial 
spirit,  as  are  those  of  the  patriot  Nehe- 
miah. 

Let  me  recall  one  incident. 

Nehemiah,  who  happened  at  the  time 
to  be  the  cupbearer  of  King  Artaxerxes, 
in  his  palace  in  Shushan,  hundreds  of 
miles  away  from  his  old  home,  Jerusa- 
lem, heard  by  chance  from  certain  Jews 
of  the  desperate  condition  of  that  once 
royal  city,  the  walls  broken  down,  the 
gates  burned,  the  people  dispirited  and 
in  great  affliction  and  reproach. 

His  spirit  of  patriotism  and  religion 
was  touched.  First  brooding  over  the 
matter,  then  seeking  the  king,  he  ob- 
tained leave  of  absence  for  a  certain 
length    of    time,    collected    the    letters 

1  Appleton  Chapel,  Harvard  University,  Decem- 
ber 7,  1890. 

68 


A   SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

necessary  to  pass  him  through  the  inter- 
vening countries,  made  a  forced  journey, 
and  in  three  days  was  in  Jerusalem.  No 
sooner  there  than  under  the  cover  of 
night  he  made  a  close  inspection  of  the 
walls,  the  gates,  and  the  surrounding 
country.  Then,  amidst  the  scoffs  of  the 
people  outside,  he  roused  all  classes  of 
citizens  to  a  high  pitch  of  enthusiasm  ; 
he  set  priests  and  merchants,  apotheca- 
ries and  goldsmiths,  nobles  and  artisans 
at  work,  each  man  and  family  in  their 
given  place.  Soon,  to  the  chagrin  of 
the  enemy,  the  walls  began  to  rise,  the 
gates  to  be  set  up,  and  the  city  strength- 
ened. Now  those  without  awoke  and 
surrounded  the  city  with  a  large  force ; 
the  builders  had  to  become  fighters ; 
they  that  builded  and  they  that  bare  bur- 
dens with  one  hand  wrought  in  the  work, 
and  with  the  other  hand  held  a  weapon. 

Moreover  the  walls  were  long  and  the 
garrison  very  small.  They  had  to  make 
up  in  strategy  what  they  lacked  in  force. 
The  soldiers  were  scattered  along  the 
wall,  and  a  system  of  signals  was  organ- 
ized. Then,  wherever  an  assault  was 
made  by  the  enemy,  there  the  garri- 
son near  by  would  collect,  in  order  to 
69 


A   SKILFUL  DEFENCE 

strengthen  the  force  of  their  comrades. 
"  In  what  place,  therefore  {so  goes  the 
order),  ye  hear  the  sound  of  the  trumpet, 
resort  ye  thither  to  us  :  our  God  shall 
fight  for  us."  1 

The  scene  and  the  spirit  of  the  defence 
seem  to  me,  my  friends,  to  have  some 
suggestions  for  our  thought  this  morn- 
ing. For  in  these  days  of  questioning, 
and  of  open  hostility  to  religion,  the  call 
goes  forth  to  every  Christian  to  study 
more  carefully  than  ever  the  spiritual 
condition  of  the  Church  and  of  ourselves, 
and  the  problem  for  us  is,  in  what  spirit 
should  that  be  done,  and  the  citadel  de- 
fended from  her  spiritual  enemies  and 
ours.  The  one  point  that  I  want  to 
impress  is,  the  necessity  of  thoughtful 
skill  in  the  plans  and  method  of  our  de- 
fence, in  strengthening  those  parts  where 
the  assault  of  evil  is  the  strongest. 

I  need  not  remind  you,  who  are  famil- 
iar with  the  story  of  the  temptation  in 
the  wilderness,  of  the  consummate  skill 
with  which  the  enemy  of  Christ  was 
met ;  how  there  was  given  blow  for 
blow,  Scripture  quotation  for  Scripture 
quotation,  an  answer  to  every  question  ; 
1  Nehemiah  iv.  20. 
70 


A    SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

how,  as  the  evil  power  bent  all  his 
strength  on  one  point  and  then  on  an- 
other, the  Saviour  marshalled  his  spirit- 
ual forces  just  when  and  where  they  were 
wanted,  and  how  the  arch  enemy  retired 
vanquished,  at  least  for  a  season.  That 
scene  is  typical  of  the  method  of  his 
whole  life.  He  is  a  superficial  student 
who  thinks  that  Jesus  went  here  and 
there  without  thought  or  plan,  and 
praised  this  man  and  denounced  that 
one,  simply  as  they  happened  before 
Him.  There  was  in  our  Lord's  life  no 
careless  action,  no  wasted  power. 

That  the  Church,  however,  has  not  al- 
ways retained  that  skill  and  thoughtful 
method  of  the  Master,  it  does  not  take  a 
deep  study  of  the  past  to  discover. 

The  student  of  history  will  find  that 
in  every  age  certain  evils  were  creep- 
ing into,  and  gaining  possession  of  the 
Church,  while  the  trumpet-blast  of  her 
leaders  was  calling  all  the  thought  and 
action  of  the  Church  in  just  the  oppo- 
site direction.  When  bishops  and  theo- 
logians have  been  bending  their  whole 
force  upon  some  question  of  the  exact 
form  of  union  between  the  persons  of 
the  Godhead,  or  the  distinction  between 
71 


A   SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

the  human  and  the  divine  in  Jesus,  pa- 
ganism, with  its  horde  of  degrading  influ- 
ences, has  been  rushing  in  at  another 
gate.  When  some  question  of  ecclesias- 
tical government  or  supremacy  has  oc- 
cupied the  Church's  thoughts,  elements 
have  been  gathering  which  would,  if  they 
had  been  looked  to,  have  created  a  panic 
in  the  quiet  or  argumentative  council 
chambers.  It  is  marvellous,  sometimes, 
to  see  how  dull  or  prejudiced  or  blind 
the  leaders  of  the  Church  seem  to  have 
been.  Such  immense  wastes  of  power, 
such  loss  of  opportunities,  such  mis- 
directed but  well-intended  action. 

And  yet,  as  we  have  seen  lately  in  the 
discussions  of  the  battles  of  our  war,  it 
is  always  easy  to  be  wise  after  the  fight, 
easy  to  criticise  the  methods  and  actions 
of  the  leaders  when  the  smoke  is  cleared 
and  the  strength  or  weakness  of  the  en- 
emy presented  in  a  careful  map  before 
us.  It  is  as  easy  to  laugh  at  the  immense 
tomes  of  theology  that  lumber  the  shelves 
of  our  libraries,  at  those  long  ago  fights 
and  discussions  and  formulas,  as  it  is  to 
laugh  at  the  old  forts  of  the  Revolution, 
and  the  cannon  which  adorn  our  com- 
mons and  monuments.  But  useless  and 
72 


A   SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

ungainly  as  they  now  are,  they  did  their 
work,  and  most  of  it  good  work,  in  their 
day.  They  are  interesting  in  themselves, 
and  helpful  in  the  development  of  new 
forms  for  new  exigencies.  Each  of  our 
creeds  bears  the  scars  of  many  a  fight, 
and  has,  within  it,  principles  on  which 
the  fight  against  false  doctrines  and  evil 
powers  must  continue  to  be  carried  on. 

We  have,  however,  dwelt  long  enough 
in  the  past. 

The  Church  of  to-day  is  for  the  life  of 
to-day  ;  her  skill  is  seen  in  the  way  that 
she  uses  the  principles  won  in  the  past 
for  the  present  work.  And  what  is  that 
work .'' 

To  hear  some  good  Church  people  talk, 
one  would  think  that  the  final  object 
of  the  Church  is  to  have  a  dignified  ser- 
vice, an  interesting  minister,  and  a  com- 
fortable and  handsome  building ;  or  an 
elaborately  organized  parish  with  a  so- 
ciety for  every  need  and  emergency  pos- 
sible, or  a  correct  idea  of  the  forms  of 
the  ritual  and  order  of  the  Church.  All 
of  these,  and  many  other  good  things  of 
which  we  hear  much,  have  their  impor- 
tance :  they  are  all  means  to  a  certain 
73 


A   SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

end.  The  danger  is,  lest  we  pay  so 
much  attention  to  the  means,  to  the 
sharpening  and  polishing  of  our  instru- 
ments, that  we  forget  the  great  work, 
the  upbuilding  of  the  walls,  and  the 
defence.  If  the  whole  thought,  talk, 
and  force  of  the  Church  could  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  one  thing,  the  foundation 
thing,  on  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ ;  if 
in  these  days  we  —  you  and  I  and  all  in 
the  Church  —  should  cease  pressing  our 
pet  notions,  or  discussing  our  ideas  on 
this  or  that  method,  should  cease  preach- 
ing ourselves,  and  turn  thought,  word, 
and  life  to  the  preaching  of  Jesus  Christ 
and  him  crucified,  the  fact  that  not  only 
Jesus  Christ  did  live  to  warn,  help,  and 
heal  men  in  Palestine,  but  now  liveth  to 
warn,  help,  and  heal  us  ;  that  He  is  now 
waiting  and  watching  for  our  confession 
of  duty  neglected  and  entrance  on  new 
duties  begun,  as  He  waited  and  watched 
of  old  ;  that  He  is  as  grieved  with  our 
cowardly  denials  of  Him,  as  He  was  with 
that  of  Peter  ;  that  He  is  bearing  the 
load  of  our  sin,  —  if  the  Church  should 
preach  and  realize  that,  there  would  be 
no  question  that  her  walls  had  been 
strengthened  in  these  days. 
74 


A   SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

The  trumpet  has  sounded  in  these  last 
twenty  years,  and  has  called  the  thought 
of  the  Church  to  the  person  of  Christ ; 
and  she  has  responded.  The  strength 
of  the  Church  and  the  evidence  of  her 
truth  is  now  felt,  not  so  much  in  the 
fact  that  miracles  were  performed  by 
Christ,  or  that  the  canon  of  Scripture 
cannot  be  broken,  or  that  the  truth  of  His 
system  can  be  exactly  proved,  as  in  the 
fact  that  Jesus  Christ  lived  :  His  Life,  not 
His  words  alone,  or  His  miracles  alone, 
or  His  resurrection  alone,  but  His  Life  as 
a  whole,  in  all  its  humility,  grace,  beauty, 
and  power,  in  all  its  confessions  of  union 
with  God,  and  in  its  perfect  sympathy 
with  man,  from  Birth  to  Ascension,  was 
and  is  the  miracle  for  which  no  other 
system  can  account.  Impress  that  Life 
on  men,  burn  the  story  of  the  Cross  into 
their  hearts,  and  you  have  given  them 
the  one  power  which  will  enable  them  to 
break  with  all  their  evil  associations. 
You  have  recreated  them. 

If,  then,  the  people  of  the  Church  — 
if  you  and  I  —  turn  our  thoughts  intently 
on  the  person  of  Christ,  we  cannot  es- 
cape two  truths,  the  two  truths  which 
75 


A   SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

He  placed  above  all  others.     First,  the 
truth  of  God  the  Father. 

To-day  we  are  largely  materialists. 
In  other  ages  there  may  have  been  too 
many  spiritualists  ;  but  to-day  there  is 
no  question  that  we  as  a  people  believe 
most  strongly  in  what  we  can  see,  feel 
and  handle.  We  believe  in  the  power 
of  brains,  muscle,  material  resources,  and 
money.  The  study  of  nature  need  not 
lead  to  a  want  of  spirituality,  but  a  close 
and  intent  study  of  nature  often  does 
shut  out  the  spiritual  side  of  things.  As 
a  result,  while  thinking,  busy,  and  prac- 
tical men  admire  and  reverence  many  of 
the  traits  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  they 
know  little  or  nothing  of  the  spiritual 
forces  behind  Him.  The  whole  drift  of 
the  thought  and  action  is  such  as  to  cre- 
ate, not  so  much  a  denial  as  a  simple 
thoughtlessness  of,  and  indifference  to, 
spiritual  truths.  In  the  theory  of  many, 
a  God  somehow  exists  ;  but  that  a  hea- 
venly Father  now  lives,  loves,  and  longs 
for  the  love  of  His  children,  —  that  the 
spirit  of  God  moving  in  men's  hearts 
and  lives,  though  they  know  it  not,  is 
the  great  force  in  the  world  to-day,  —  is 
a  truth  totally  alien  to  their  ways  of  look- 
76 


A   SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

ing  at  things.  This  agnosticism,  not  of 
thonghtfulness,  but  of  thoughtlessness, 
is  not  to  be  reasoned  away,  for  men  are 
not  interested  enough  to  reason  and 
think  in  those  lines ;  it  can  only  be 
pushed  away  by  breathing  into  the  life 
of  men  more  of  the  spiritual  spirit,  more 
of  the  faith  in  faith  and  love  and  higher 
graces  than  they  now  have.  In  other 
words,  the  practical  business  man,  the 
clerk,  the  student,  the  workingman,  any 
one  who,  while  intently  interested  in  his 
work  and  pleasure,  shows  by  the  tenor 
of  his  life  that  he  is  living  by  faith  and 
not  by  sight  ;  that  he  really  believes  in  a 
heavenly  Father,  and  the  deeper  spiritual 
truths  of  Christ,  —  such  a  man  is  doing 
more  to  offset  and  overthrow  practical 
and  indifferent  unbelief  than  many  an 
earnest  champion  of  the  faith  in  our 
books  and  reviews. 

The  second  is  the  truth  of  man,  the 
brother:  "No  man  liveth  to  himself, 
and  no  man  dieth  to  himself." 

The  man  who  believes  only  in  the 
worth  and  power  of  material  things, 
reasonably,  puts  his  whole  life  into  the 
gaining  of  them.  His  first  duty  is  to 
himself  ;  his  last  duty  is  to  his  fellow- 
77 


A   SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

man  :  he  is  logical  and  true  to  his  princi- 
ples. The  society  in  which  that  spirit  is 
the  ruling  power  logically  expects  every 
man  to  look  out  for  himself,  and,  except 
as  a  matter  of  policy  and  self-defence, 
for  no  one  else.  Let  this  spirit  of  self- 
ishness gain  full  control  of  all  grades 
of  society,  without  that  tempering  spirit 
which  comes  with  religion  and  faith  in 
spiritual  truths,  and  we  shall  have  a 
labor  question,  and  a  social  question,  and 
a  political  question,  to  which  our  pre- 
sent troubles  are  but  whispers.  "Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself"  is  a 
word  which  no  Christian  can  get  rid  of ; 
it  is  a  word  which  must  be  interpreted 
with  reason  and  common  sense ;  but  the 
principle  is  there.  The  fact  that  each 
member  of  society  and  each  class  of 
society  suspects  each  other,  member 
and  class,  of  selfish  motives  is  that 
which  keeps  society  in  a  ferment  ;  and 
the  trouble  is,  there  is  only  too  much 
ground  for  the  suspicion.  Men  have 
been  and  are  supremely  selfish.  All 
classes  have  at  different  times  unjustly 
demanded  rights  and  held  power  which  a 
Christian  spirit  would  have  yielded.  Con- 
sequently, every  sharp  contrast  of  riches 
78 


A    SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

and  poverty  intensifies  the  suspicion, 
and  the  man  who  spends  his  ten  thou- 
sand dollars  for  a  few  inches  of  bric-a- 
brac,  and  the  laborer  who,  in  combina- 
tion with  a  thousand  others,  has  struck 
in  the  next  street  at  what  they  think 
are  starvation  wages,  naturally  eye  each 
other  with  some  suspicion.  No  instan- 
taneous cure  will  remedy  the  matter.  It 
is  the  spirit  of  Christ,  of  tender  regard  for 
others,  of  high  justice  and  sympathetic 
humanity,  that  our  lives  want  ;  and  it  is 
to  the  Church,  —  to  the  members  of  the 
Church  in  their  business  relations,  the 
treatment  of  their  employees  in  their 
shops  and  factories  and  their  servants  in 
their  houses,  —  to  us  that  the  world  looks 
for  the  noblest  expressions  of  it.  In 
that  breach  of  the  principle  of  the  bro- 
therhood of  mankind  in  Christ,  of  Chris- 
tian charity,  the  trumpet  sounds  to-day, 
"Resort  ye  thither." 

The  battle-cry  of  the  text  has  its  more 
personal  suggestion.  Each  man  and 
woman  is  called  to  stand  on  the  defence 
against  their  peculiar  enemy,  and  to  en- 
force themselves  in  their  weak  spot. 
The  trouble  is  that  it  is  far  easier  to 
79 


A   SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

enforce  ourselves  in  our  strongest  spot. 
The  temptation  of  a  thoughtless  ath- 
lete is  to  strengthen  his  muscles  where 
they  are  already  the  strongest,  and  thus 
gain  preeminence  in  some  special  line. 
The  skilled  athlete  will  turn  his  thought 
and  force  on  to  the  weaker  part,  and 
thus  develop  the  whole  man  in  perfect 
symmetry  and  strength.  The  healthy 
system  sends  the  blood  leaping  to  that 
part  where  it  is  wanted.  The  sickly 
body  will  not  respond  to  the  call  for  aid 
in  its  weaker  part. 

That  spiritual  system,  that  man  who 
is  in  a  spiritually  healthy  condition,  will 
turn  the  whole  strength  to  his  weaker 
parts.  Yet  how  often  is  the  case  re- 
versed ! 

The  man  who  is  always  ready  to  give 
money,  but  seldom  patient,  and  often 
irritable,  says  that  he  will  turn  over  a 
new  leaf  and  be  a  better  man  ;  and  he 
sits  down  and  writes  off  his  generous 
checks  in  the  satisfaction  that  he  is  keep- 
ing away  the  spirit  of  selfishness.  But 
his  form  of  selfishness  is  in  impatience 
and  irritability  ;  there  is  the  weak  point 
in  his  garrison. 

The  church  -  going  worldly  woman 
80 


A   SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

keeps  Lent  by  multiplying  her  attend- 
ance at  services,  and  pins  her  salvation 
on  regular  attendance  at  early  commun- 
ion ;  but  her  weak  point,  a  worldly  or  an 
envious  spirit,  goes  uncorrected. 

The  boy  makes  his  good  resolutions 
to  be  good  and  not  to  lose  his  temper, 
which  he  very  seldom  does  lose,  and  for- 
gets to  control  his  tongue,  that  unruly 
member,  from  impure  words. 

And  so  with  all  of  us.  The  skill  of 
the  patriot  Nehemiah  was  in  discovering 
where  the  weak  spot  was  on  the  ap- 
proach of  the  enemy;  then  any  man 
could  marshal  the  forces.  The  hard  part 
is  often  to  look  really  honestly  at  our- 
selves and  into  our  own  deepest  motives, 
to  discover  what  is  the  root  of  selfish- 
ness, and  then  what  form  it  takes.  That 
done,  the  warning  sounded,  the  whole 
spiritual  force  of  the  man  turned  to  that 
weak  spot,  the  fight  earnest,  and  there 
will  be  no  question  of  the  result ;  for  he 
who  so  acts  has  the  assurance,  "  Our 
God  shall  fight  for  us." 

There  is  one  element  which  I  feel  is 
wanting  sadly  in  the  Church,  and  in  the 
Christian  character  in  these  times.  Of 
this   I   would    finally    speak.      On   the 


A   SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

whole,  the  methods  of  the  Church  in 
these  days  are  good,  the  thought  and 
truths  of  the  Gospel  are  well  supported. 
Everything  seems  ready  for  a  more  ag- 
gressive fight  against  the  thoughtful  and 
practical  enemies  of  to-day.  Still  we 
hesitate,  and  do  not  move  as  we  ought ; 
many  of  our  weapons  are  useless  ;  our 
work  is  not  effective,  for  want  of  one 
thing,  enthusiasm  born  of  a  personal 
faith. 

Some  of  you  may  have  read  the  story 
told  by  a  private  in  our  war.  In  the 
midst  of  the  battle,  the  plans  all  laid 
and  in  execution,  the  action  hot,  one  of 
those  critical  moments  when  the  turn 
depends  not  on  numbers  but  on  the  con- 
fidence and  courage  of  the  men,  he  could 
feel  the  courage  of  himself  and  his  com- 
rades oozing  out.  The  odds  were  against 
them  ;  a  retreat,  perhaps  a  rout,  seemed 
inevitable,  when  the  figure  of  Hancock 
was  seen  moving  slowly  in  front  of  the 
line,  every  inch  of  him  a  soldier.  The 
response  to  his  look  and  word  was  im- 
mediate. The  whole  line  took  courage, 
rose,  advanced  and  drove  back  the  enemy. 
I  say  that  we  have  all  the  material,  all 
the  plans  and  methods  necessary ;  we 
82 


A   SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

have  numbers  enough.  What  we  do 
want  is  something  of  that  spiritual  en- 
thusiasm. It  is  more  than  emotion  ;  it 
is  thought,  act,  and  hfe  kindled  with  that 
spiritual  enthusiasm  born  of  a  personal 
loyalty  to  the  noblest  of  leaders.  Not 
that  the  man  has  got  hold  of  some  truth, 
but  that  the  truth  of  Christ  has  got  hold 
of  him,  and  sets  him  ablaze  to  kindle 
that  truth  in  another's  life. 

You  say  that  your  friend  is  indifferent 
to  religion ;  that  he  has  no  particular 
faith  ;  he  never  goes  to  church.  You 
know  also,  that  it  has  not  come  alto- 
gether from  thought  in  the  matter ;  he 
has  simply  drifted,  thoughtless.  He 
merely  cares  for  none  of  these  things. 
Argument  is  not  going  to  touch  that 
man.  Worship  and  sermons  will  not 
move  him,  for  he  avoids  them.  Books 
will  not  convince  him,  for  he  skips  all 
that  hints  at  religion.  The  only  thing 
that  will  touch  him  is  your  own  spiritual 
enthusiasm.  If  you  are  loyal  to  Christ, 
if  you  believe  in  Him  as  the  only  hope 
of  your  life  and  of  this  world,  then  you 
have  a  duty  by  your  friend  which  you 
cannot  escape.  There  is  not  one  of  us 
in  whom  the  trumpet  call  is  not  for  more 
83 


A   SKILFUL   DEFENCE 

enthusiasm.  First,  seek  for  yourself  a 
deeper  realization  of  the  truth  of  Christ ; 
seek  it  earnestly  and  with  prayer ;  with 
short  prayers  if  you  will,  but  with  earnest 
ones ;  then  live  in  the  spirit  of  Christ. 
Use  tact  in  word  and  action,  but  be  not 
over  sensitive  ;  an  earnest  man  has  some- 
times to  push  his  way  and  break  down 
others'  prejudices.  And  if  you  are  in 
earnest  and  with  high  enthusiasm,  others 
will  feel  it  ;  they  must.  Though  they 
say  little,  they  will  think.  Then,  if  you 
continue  faithful  and  sincere,  "  our  God 
shall  fight  for  us."  Leave  the  result 
with  Him  ;  your  work  is  done. 
84 


VI 

THE  UNCHANGEABLENESS  AND  THE 
CHANGEABLENESS  OF  FAITH  ^ 

"Then  came  the  Jews  round  about 
him,  and  said  unto  him,  How  long  dost 
thou  make  us  to  doubt  ?  If  thou  be  the 
Christ,  tell  us  plainly.  Jesus  answered 
them,  I  told  you  and  ye  believed  not  : 
the  works  that  I  do  in  my  Father's 
name,  they  bear  witness  of  me.  But  ye 
believe  not  because  ye  are  not  of  my 
sheep,  as  I  said  unto  you.  My  sheep 
hear  my  voice,  and  I  know  them,  and 
they  follow  me."  ^ 

When  a  man  asks  a  plain  and  honest 
question,  should  he  not  get  a  plain  and 
direct  answer .-'  I  think  that  there  are 
some  of  us  who  at  first  thought  have  a 
little  doubt  in  our  minds  as  to  whether 
those  people  were  treated  quite  fairly  by 

1  St.  John's  Memorial  Chapel,  Cambridge,  Nov- 
ember 20,  1892.  Christ  Church,  Cambridge,  before 
the  St.  Paul's  Society  of  Harvard  University,  May 
26,  1895. 

2  John  X.  24-27. 

85 


THE   UNCHANGEABLENESS   AND 

our  Lord.  Here  was  a  man  who  had 
appeared  in  the  community,  and  who  was 
certainly  worthy  of  their  notice.  The 
people  had  been  brought  up  for  gener- 
ations in  expectation  of  a  Messiah,  a 
Christ,  a  deliverer.  Certain  features 
about  this  man,  His  miracles.  His  claims 
and  the  claims  of  His  followers  for  Him, 
certain  incidents  in  connection  with  His 
birth  and  early  career,  the  driving  of 
traders  out  of  the  Temple  just  two  years 
ago  on  that  very  Feast  day,  naturally 
provoked  the  question,  "  Is  not  this  the 
Messiah  .'*  Have  we  not,  right  here 
among  us,  the  Christ  whom  we  have 
been  expecting  .'* " 

What  more  natural  and  honorable 
thing  to  do  than  to  go  directly  to  Him 
with  the  question,  "  How  long  dost  thou 
make  us  to  doubt .''  How  long  wilt  thou 
hold  us  in  suspense  .''  If  thou  be  the 
Christ,  tell  us  plainly." 

Why  could  not  Jesus  give  them  a  di- 
rect answer  ?  Why  did  He  throw  them 
ofT  in  that  evasive  way,  and  begin  to 
talk  of  His  sheep.?  I  think  that  we  can 
best  answer  the  question  by  suggesting 
an  illustration  or  two  from  our  own  ex- 
perience in  these  days. 
86 


THE   CHANGEABLENESS   OF   FAITH 

I  have  said  that  we  sympathize  a  good 
deal  with  those  straightforward  business- 
like men  who,  in  asking  a  definite  ques- 
tion, expect  a  definite  answer.  For  we 
are  after  all  a  straightforward  and  busi- 
ness-like people  in  this  age.  We  live  on 
facts,  and  like  to  get  at  results. 

When  a  new  metal  is  discovered,  or 
a  new  chrysanthemum  cultivated,  we 
can  describe  its  characteristics,  name  it, 
label  it,  and  when  the  definite  question  is 
asked,  "What  is  this  new  discovery.?" 
we  can  give  a  definite  answer.  And 
ten  years  hence  we  can  give  the  same 
answer.  It  will  always  be  found  exactly 
the  same,  in  the  catalogue  of  metals  or 
of  flowers. 

And  so  in  our  business-like  and  scien- 
tific way  we  begin  to  think  that  every 
thing  can  be  defined,  labelled,  and  put 
in  a  case,  hermetically  sealed  against 
changing  atmospheres  of  thought  and 
discussion. 

Once  in  a  while,  however,  some  great 
living  principle  arises  which  knocks  over 
all  these  pleasant  notions  of  preserving 
truth  in  unchanging  forms  and  defini- 
tions. 

In  science,  some  genius  who  has  the 
87 


THE   UNCHANGEABLENESS   AND 

power  of  classifying  other  men's  facts, 
some  one  with  the  patience  and  imagina- 
tion of  a  Darwin,  arises  :  and  from  the 
din  of  scientific  discussion  appears  the 
word  and  the  principle  of  evolution. 
We  do  not  know  exactly  how  it  has 
come,  but  here  it  is  ;  and  immediately 
ten  thousand  voices  ask  "What  is  evolu- 
tion ?  what  does  the  evolutionist  hold  ?  " 
And  you  who  have  lived  in  the  thought 
of  the  last  twenty  years  know  how,  as 
soon  as  that  term  was  defined,  as  it  was 
supposed  by  some  forever,  it  has  needed 
a  re-definition. 

Some  new  fact  or  class  of  facts,  some 
importation  of  philosophic  or  religious 
truth  into  the  discussion,  has  given  the 
term  a  larger  meaning.  So  that  as  it 
expresses  the  results  of  vital  thought 
and  experience,  as  it  is  the  revelation  of 
a  living  principle,  it  cannot  be  defined 
and  confined  to  one  interpretation,  but  is 
ever  growing  larger,  and  embracing  more 
and  more  of  thought  and  life  in  its  com- 
pass. Thus  the  evolutionist  of  to-day  is 
broader  in  his  vision  than  the  evolution- 
ist of  five  years  ago,  and  narrower  than 
he  will  be  five  years  hence. 

The  most  misleading  thing,  therefore, 
88 


THE   CHANGEABLENESS   OF   FAITH 

that  science  could  do  to-day  would  be  to 
give  a  definite,  plain,  business-like  an- 
swer to  the  plain  question,  "  How  long  is 
science  to  hold  us  in  suspense  ?  Why 
cannot  we  have  a  final  answer  to  our 
question,  *  What  is  this  principle  of  evo- 
lution ? '  " 

Now  I  believe  that  we  are  ready  to 
go  back  to  our  text  with  more  intelli- 
gence, and  see  how  impossible  it  was  for 
Jesus  to  give  a  direct  answer  to  the 
direct  question  :  for  the  more  definite 
and  final  His  answer,  the  more  mislead- 
ing it  would  have  been. 

These  people,  you  notice,  were  Jews : 
"Then  came  the  Jews  round  about  him." 

It  was  at  the  Feast  of  Dedication.  It 
was  an  anniversary  of  liberty,  when  was 
celebrated  the  breaking  of  the  Syrian 
yoke  by  the  great  leader,  Judas  Mac- 
cabaeus.  It  was  a  day  that  appealed  to 
the  Jewish  national  pride,  when  the 
Roman  yoke  galled  most  bitterly.  Their 
dreams  and  hope  were  of  another  and 
greater  than  Maccabaeus,  a  Messiah,  who 
would  break  the  power  of  Rome  and 
make  Jerusalem  the  queen  of  all  nations, 
and  the  Jews  the  victors  of  all  people. 
Jesus  was  the  Messiah.  But  as  He  well 
89 


THE   UNCHANGEABLENESS   AND 

knew,  and  as  we  now  know,  He  repre- 
sented infinitely  more  than  Messiahship. 

To  have  answered  that  He  was  the 
Christ  would  have  been  to  set  those  Jews 
upon  entirely  the  wrong  track.  The 
word  "  Christ "  did  not  mean  the  same 
thing  to  Him  and  them.  He  was  not 
the  Christ  as  they  understood  it.  To 
have  said  "  Yes "  would  in  fact  have 
been  a  false  answer  as  they  would  have 
interpreted  it.  To  have  said  "  No  " 
would  also  have  been  false,  for  He  was 
the  Christ,  and  He  could  not  deny  Him- 
self. 

And,  after  all,  He  had  told  them,  or 
rather  tried  to  tell  them.  He  had  in 
vain  repeated  some  of  the  eternal  prin- 
ciples beneath  the  Messiahship  :  "  I  and 
my  Father  are  one,"  "  I  came  forth  from 
the  Father,"  "I  am  the  Light  of  the 
World  :  "  but  they  believed  not ;  they  did 
not  have  the  spiritual  capacity  to  take  it 
in ;  even  the  works  that  He  did  had  no 
spiritual  meaning  to  them.  They  were 
as  hopeless  to  impress  with  the  truth  of 
his  Messiahship  as  is  the  ignorant  clod- 
hopper to  comprehend  the  great  princi- 
ples involving  nature,  man,  and  spirit, 
under  the  term  "evolution." 
90 


THE    CHANGEABLENESS    OF    FAITH 

Yet  there  is  among  us  all,  even  among 
the  very  religious,  the  feeling  that  reli- 
gious truths  can  be  finally  and  adequately 
defined  and  settled,  so  that  when  the 
answers  to  the  great  questions  of  God, 
of  the  Trinity,  of  the  Scriptures,  or  of 
the  future  life,  are  once  made,  they  are 
settled  forever.  There  are  those  of  us 
who  think  of  the  faith  once  delivered  to 
the  saints  as  a  neatly  packed  system  of 
truths,  all  dovetailed  and  mortised  into 
each  other,  defined  and  numbered,  so 
that  when  one  has  once  grasped  it,  he 
has  it  forever  in  the  same  form.  No  ! 
the  truth  of  Jesus  Christ  is  no  dead 
thing,  but  living,  vital,  developing  with 
every  income  of  new  thought  and  expe- 
rience. 

Take,  for  instance,  that  truth,  the  in- 
spiration of  the  Bible.  Our  fathers  de- 
fined it,  as  they  thought,  forever.  The 
Bible  was  the  Word  of  God  ;  every  word 
and  letter  inspired,  and  equally  inspired 
by  Him  ;  one  fact  wrong,  and  the  whole 
would  fall.  To  the  doubting  world  cry- 
ing, "  How  long  dost  thou  hold  us  in 
suspense  .''  Tell  us,  what  is  inspiration  .''  " 
they  gave  a  compact,  definite,  and  satis- 
factory answer ;  satisfactory  to  them. 
91 


THE   UNCHANGEABLENESS   AND 

But  we  all  know  how  the  revelation  of 
God's  truth  in  the  very  Scriptures  them- 
selves, in  men's  experiences  and  in  the 
study  of  nature,  has  burst  those  old  defi- 
nitions. How  new  ones  have  been 
formed,  and  how,  again,  the  living  truth 
has  broken  the  shell  !  What  shall  we 
say  ?  Is  the  Bible  not  inspired  ?  Is  it 
not  God's  word  ?  Surely  it  is  both  of 
these.  His  Spirit  moved  in  the  hearts 
and  lives  of  those  men  of  old.  He  was 
beneath  the  movements  of  races  and  na- 
tions. He  was  in  the  history  of  all  those 
peoples,  from  Abraharn,  through  Isaiah, 
to  Malachi.  He,  Himself,  was  in  Christ 
Jesus,  and  breathed  upon  the  apostles. 
What,  then,  those  men  did  and  wrote 
was  inspired  of  God,  —  not  all  that  they 
did  and  wrote.  Some  of  their  wicked 
deeds  and  words  seem  to  have  been  in- 
spired by  Satan.  They  had  their  times 
of  spiritual  desjDondency  as  we  do  ;  they 
were  not  equally  inspired.  We  may  de- 
fine inspiration  to-day.  Our  definition 
is  larger,  nobler,  and  more  divine  than 
our  fathers'  definition.  Our  children's, 
we  trust,  will  be  nobler  than  ours.  . 

And  yet,  in  this  very  point.  Christian 
people  still  cling  to  the  fact  that  what 
92 


THE   CHANGEABLENESS   OF   FAITH 

our  fathers  defined  must  be  so.  It  is 
just  here  that  the  irreverent  and  Phi- 
listine spirit  of  Ingersollism  and  the 
scientific  spirit  of  Huxleyism  has  its 
leverage. 

They  take  Christians  at  their  word, 
that  the  forms  of  faith  change  not,  and 
that  the  truth  must  always  be  defined  as 
the  truth  always  has  been ;  and  they  easily 
riddle  the  old  systems,  which  did  good 
work  in  their  day,  but  which  have  already 
given  way  to  others.  Such  interpreta- 
tions are  as  intelligent  as  if  the  theolo- 
gian should  base  an  argument  against 
modern  science  on  the  grounds  of  the 
definitions  of  scientists  of  one  hundred 
years  ago. 

Or,  again,  the  question  of  the  Resur- 
rection, 

You  know  the  popular  belief  of  fifty 
years  ago,  —  the  soul  transported  into 
unknown  regions  ;  the  body  resting  in 
the  ground  ;  the  great  day  when  all  the 
particles  of  the  flesh  would  gather  and 
become  again  the  home  of  the  soul,  and 
the  man  would  stand  ready  for  judgment. 

You  know  how  the  more  intelligent 
study  of  St.  Paul's  words,  of  our  Lord's 
resurrection,  and  the  more  spiritual 
93 


THE   UNCHANGEABLENESS   AND 

interpretation  of  nature,  have  glorified 
the  truth,  cut  away  the  pagan  notion  of 
the  immortal  formless  soul,  and  inter- 
preted man  as  one,  soul  and  body ;  and 
how  the  resurrection  is  the  entering 
into  the  higher  life  with  spiritualized 
aspiration  and  form.  Very  imperfect, 
our  definition,  you  say.  Yes,  gloriously 
imperfect,  with  every  new  revelation  of 
truth  to  be  made  more  perfect. 

"  Do  you  believe  in  the  resurrection 
of  the  body  ?  Tell  us  plainly.  Does  the 
Church  ask  us  to  believe  it  ?  Give  me  a 
final  answer,  that  will  settle  my  doubts 
and  free  me  from  thinking  any  more 
about  it." 

Can  we  answer  definitely  and  in  a 
word  ? 

We  say  "Yes."  Ah, — but  what  do 
you  mean  by  the  body,  by  the  resurrec- 
tion ;  and  we  are  misunderstood.  We 
say  "  No,"  —  not  the  exact  unchanged 
body  that  was  laid  in  the  ground,  and 
yet  we  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  ;  and  again  we  are  misunderstood. 

And  the  business-like,  impatient  in- 
quirer goes  away,  saying  that  we  do  not 
know  what  we  believe.  Is  the  fault  in 
him,  or  in  us  ^  Surely  the  faithful  Chris- 
94 


THE   CHANGEABLENESS   OF   FAITH 

tian  knows  that  he  is  now  living  in 
Christ ;  that  when  he  dies  he  is  still  liv- 
ing in  Christ ;  that  as  Christ  rose  and 
Himself  ascended  into  heaven,  a  spiritual 
state,  so  we  shall  rise,  and,  clothed  in 
spiritual  form,  we  shall  dwell  with  Him. 

"Ah!" — I  can  hear  the  sigh  from 
some  quiet,  faithful  Christian.  "  Is  re- 
ligion such  a  moving,  changing,  restless 
thing  .-*  Am  I  never  to  rest  in  my  faith, 
with  the  assurance  that  I  shall  have  to 
struggle  and  search  and  develop  no 
longer.'*  "  I  know  how,  in  this  intellectu- 
ally restless  age,  that  dread  hangs  like  a 
cloud  over  many  lives.  "I  have  broken 
with  my  child  faith.  I  had  to.  I  have 
a  more  mature  faith  now.  It  is,  I  know, 
better  than  the  old;  but  have  I  got  to 
move  again  .''  Ever  this  onward,  upward 
march  ?  Ever  this  testing  of  new  truths 
and  larger  revelations  ?  " 

We  know  how  that  spirit,  weary  of 
tossing  upon  the  tides  of  thought,  has 
driven  many  to  Rome  and  many  more 
to  agnosticism. 

Are  they  right  ?    Is  the  true  religious 
life  a  tossing  on  the  tides  of  thought .'' 
Are  change  and  movement  the  necessary 
characteristic  of  faith  ?     Yes,  and  no. 
95 


THE   UNCHANGEABLENESS   AND 

"  Am  I  always  to  be  putting  forth 
new  limbs  ?"  cries  the  tree.  "Am  I  to 
be  forever  s win s^ing  in  the  wind?  Ever 
responding  to  the  rain  and  suns  of  sum- 
mer ?  Yielding  foliage  and  fruit,  drop- 
ping them,  and  yielding  again  ?  "  Yes, 
by  all  means,  yes,  if  you  are  to  live. 
And  yet  your  roots  buried  deep  in  the 
earth,  clinging  to  rock  and  clod,  hold 
you  fast,  nurture  you,  give  you  stability 
and  life. 

Is  the  ship  to  be  forever  tossed  upon 
the  sea,  buffeting  winds  and  waves  .-* 
Yes,  by  all  means,  yes,  if  she  be  a  true 
ship ;  but  within  her  are  the  needle,  the 
helm,  and  the  pilot  that  keep  her  true. 
Perpetually  moving,  yet  never  changing 
in  loyalty  to  the  hand  that  guides  her. 
Herein  is  her  safety.  Let  her  lie  at 
anchor  in  the  harbor  forever,  and  bar- 
nacles, rust,  and  decay  will  be  her  lot. 
Herein  is  her  glory,  that  she  is  doing  the 
work  for  which  she  was  launched,  mak- 
ing harbor  after  harbor  for  which  she  is 
directed. 

Have  you  not  now  caught  the  thought  ? 
If  not,  you  may  catch  it  in  the  very  an- 
swer of  Jesus  to  those  same  Jews.  "I 
told  you  and  ye  believed  not.  But  ye 
96 


THE   CHANGEABLENESS    OF   FAITH 

believed  not  because  ye  are  not  of  my 
sheep.  My  sheep  hear  my  voice,  and  I 
know  them,  and  they  follow  me."  The 
basis  of  the  Christian  faith,  the  root  of 
the  Christian  life,  the  compass  and  pilot 
is  in  the  personal  love  of  the  man  for 
Christ  :  the  sheep  and  the  shepherd. 

It  was  of  no  use  to  answer  the  Jews, 
for  they  had  not  love.  He  would  have 
liked  to  answer  them,  but  while  they 
had  not  that,  they  could  not  understand 
Him.  He  did  answer  the  woman  at  the 
well,  and  many  a  humble  man,  because 
they  did  have  that. 

Herein  is  no  change,  any  more  than 
the  tree  changing  its  limbs.  The  Chris- 
tian faith  is  unchangeable,  as  the  child's 
love  to  his  father  is  unchangeable,  rooted 
deep  in  affection,  in  devotion,  and  expe- 
rience. The  Christian  believes  in  the 
deeper  truths  of  God,  in  the  essential 
facts  and  principles  of  Christ  life  ;  his 
existence  is  bound  up  with  them.  And 
yet  the  Christian  faith  is  changeable,  as 
the  child's  love  for  his  father  is  change- 
able. With  growth  from  boyhood  to 
manhood,  the  son  interprets  his  father's 
love  more  intelligently,  grasps  the  best 
elements  of  his  father's  character  more 
97 


THE   UNCHANGEABLENESS   AND 

strongly,  and  they  both  rejoice  in  the 
maturing  expression  of  his  devotion. 

Surely  no  one  would  ask  that  the  form 
or  expression  of  the  filial  love  would  re- 
main in  the  young  man  as  it  was  in  the 
child. 

Herein  is  the  unchangeableness  and 
the  changeableness  of  creeds.  The  true 
creed,  like  that  which  we  have  just  recited, 
contains  the  few  fundamental  expres- 
sions of  the  Christian  faith.  If  more 
than  these  are  expressed,  the  rising  life 
of  Christian  thought  is  bound  to  shatter 
the  expressions,  as  it  is  now  doing 
among  the  Presbyterians  and  in  some  of 
our  Congregational  churches.  Yet,  while 
our  simple  creeds  remain  the  same,  and 
while  our  personal  faith  remains  deeply 
imbedded  in  these  truths,  who  can  but 
say  that  our  interpretation  of  these  sym- 
bols is  continually  maturing  and  enrich- 
ing }  For  instance,  "  I  believe  in  God 
the  Father."  What  wealth  of  love,  sym- 
pathy, and  personal  communion  is  now 
read  into  that  expression,  when  the 
fatherhood  in  the  home  is  so  much  more 
loving  than  in  the  days  when  fathers 
were  more  nearly  commanders  than  fa- 
thers. How  much  more  the  sentence, 
98 


THE   CHANGEABLENESS    OF   FAITH 

"Jesus  Christ  his  only  Son,"  means  to 
us  than  it  did  a  few  generations  ago, 
when  a  partial  theology  had  robbed  Him 
of  many  of  His  most  human  and  attrac- 
tive qualities.  What  added  meaning  is 
there  in  the  statement,  "  I  believe  in  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  when  we  have  passed  from 
the  mechanical  idea  of  the  Spirit  into 
the  realization  of  Him  as  the  personifica- 
tion and  source  of  all  moral  and  spiritual 
power?  How  much  we  now  mean  as  we 
speak  of  the  ever  adorable  Trinity,  which 
our  fathers  were  ignorant  of.  That  doc- 
trine is  no  longer  a  mere  logical  problem, 
but  the  imperfect  expression  of  a  vital 
spiritual  truth. 

What,  then,  is  the  meaning  of  those 
people  who  say  that  we  want  definite 
teaching,  definite  dogma,  and  a  definite 
faith  ?  If  by  this  is  intended  such  teach- 
ing, dogma,  and  faith,  that  the  statement 
will  be  final  and  comprehensive,  so 
that  the  receptive  hearer  may  take 
it  and  rest  assured  that  he  has  never 
got  to  think  out  problems  or  struggle 
with  new  questions,  then,  by  all  means 
"  No  !  "  We  want  no  company  of  Jews 
who  think  that  Christ  will  tell  them 
99 


THE   UNCHANGEABLENESS   AND 

everything  plainly  and  finally.  Jesus 
never  did  ;  for  no  man  ever  lived  who 
could  grasp  a  final  and  complete  state- 
ment of  even  the  least  of  God's  truths. 
Calvinism  and  Romanism  have  both 
tried  it,  and  have  both  miserably  failed. 
Calvinism  has  been  shattered,  and  Ro- 
manism has  been  driven  to  the  develop- 
ment of  dogma,  to  the  invention  of  new 
and  unchristian  dogma,  in  order  to  keep 
the  ship  from  going  to  pieces. 

When,  then,  you  become  weary  of 
thinking  out  religious  questions  ;  when 
you  yearn  for  some  one  —  some  minister, 
some  church,  some  book  —  to  tell  you 
just  what  you  ought  to  believe,  so  that 
you  may  not  have  to  think  any  more  ; 
when  you  long  for  some  haven  of  rest 
from  the  turmoil  of  religious  doubts, 
look  well  to  yourself  whether  it  be  not 
the  haven  of  spiritual  and  intellectual 
death.  Escape  from  the  stress  of  life, 
seek  the  garden  in  the  cool  of  the  even- 
ing ;  aye,  sleep  on  now  and  take  your 
rest.  Meanwhile  the  enemy  is  schem- 
ing and  coming  forth  ;  they  are  close  at 
hand  that  would  betray  the  Saviour. 

But  if  by  definite  teaching,  dogma  and 
faith,  a  man   means   that   he  wants  to 

lOO 


THE   CHANGEABLENESS   OF   FAITH 

bring  more  clearly  before  him  the  deepest 
truths  of  Jesus  Christ  and  His  Church, 
then  by  all  means,  seek  for  that  faith. 

First,  enter  more  and  more  deeply 
into  sympathy  with  the  life,  the  spiritual 
aims  and  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
throw  yourself  devotedly  into  His  ser- 
vice. By  prayer  and  close  communion, 
enter  into  the  very  heart  of  God,  as  the 
child  lays  hold  of  his  father's  heart. 
By  study  of  Scripture,  of  man,  of  his- 
tory, and  of  nature,  seize  hold  of  the 
very  life  of  God.  Questions  will  rise, 
doubts  dim  the  vision  for  a  while,  temp- 
tations trip  the  feet  ;  but  when  one  is 
walking  beside  the  dearest  friend  he  has, 
when  one  is  learning  of  him  and  drinking 
in  the  richest  truths,  is  he  to  grumble  at 
the  cloud  mist  and  a  rough  path .-' 

Here  is  the  glory  of  it  all,  my  friends. 
There  are  those  who  are,  or  think  they 
are,  safe  in  the  Church,  in  authority, 
in  restful,  unthinking  faith.  There  are 
others,  intellectual  or  spiritual  laggards, 
or  cowards  —  some  of  them,  not  all  — 
who  have  retreated  into  unthinking  agnos- 
ticism. They  have  given  up  the  whole 
work  of  trying  to  discover  God.  And 
there  are   others,  Christians,  who  have 

lOI 


THE   UNCHANGEABLENESS   AND 

opened  their  hearts  to  Jesus  Christ  and 
have  let  God  discover  them.  They  have 
undertaken  to  follow  Jesus,  not  because 
it  is  easiest,  not  because  it  saves  them 
thought  and  intellectual  worry,  but  be- 
cause a  life  with  Him  and  in  Him  is  a 
glorious  life.  It  is  the  life  of  one  who 
has  found  the  truth,  and  definite  truth. 
Not  the  whole  truth,  —  no,  a  thousand 
times  no  ;  not  a  complete  or  final  state- 
ment of  truth,  but  truth  enough  and 
definite  enough  to  live  by.  Thus  he 
has  before  him  the  vision  of  a  glorious 
eternity :  with  Christ  as  a  companion, 
a  guide,  a  comforter  in  distress,  to  enter 
into  the  path  of  the  truth-seeker;  in 
the  presence  of  God  to  enter  more  and 
more  closely  into  the  thought  and  know- 
ledge of  God  ;  rewarded  every  day  with 
heavy  sheaves  of  truth  gathered  under 
sunny  and  cloudy  skies,  in  joys  and  sor- 
rows, but  ever  expecting  and  gaining 
richer  rewards. 

And  so  life  goes  on  with  us  here. 
You  know  that  each  day  and  year  that 
you  live  in  company  with  Christ  brings 
new  knowledge  of  Him.  You  know 
that  doubts  and  difficulties  which  looked 
insoluble,  and  which  were  insoluble,  if 

102 


THE   CHANGEABLENESS   OF   FAITH 

interpreted  without  the  Christian  faith, 
have  solved  themselves  in  the  light  of 
His  life. 

Oh,  the  pity  of  it !  —  that  men  and 
women,  thousands  of  them  about  us,  Ca- 
pable of  the  highest  spiritual  life,  and 
the  noblest  character,  should  live  and 
go  to  their  graves  without  realizing  the 
beauty,  the  comfort,  and  the  grandeur 
of  the  Christian  faith.  Oh,  that  we 
could  move  them  to  it,  and  bind  to  it 
with  chains  of  love  ! 

And  then  the  glory  of  it !  —  the  glory 
of  an  endless  life  in  the  boundless  love 
of  Jesus  Christ  ;  of  walking  in  the 
Temple  of  Truth  with  the  Truth  Him- 
self as  its  interpreter  ;  the  infinite  com- 
fort in  sorrow  and  inspiration  in  joy  that 
the  same  Master  and  Friend  and  Bro- 
ther is  leading  us  here  that  will  lead  us 
into  His  eternal  truth  and  life  forever  ! 
103 


VII 

THE    priests'    taunt  ^ 

Some  of  the  noblest  truths  have  been 
concealed  within  the  taunts  and  scoffs 
of  men.  It  was  in  derision  that  the 
courtiers  and  people  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth's day  gave  to  a  group  of  men  of  ex- 
treme purity  of  life  the  name  "  Puritan," 
a  title  which  their  descendants  have  been 
proud  to  acknowledge. 

Or  again,  there  arose  another  group, 
who,  reacting  from  the  ceremonialism 
and  the  worldliness  of  the  Established 
Church,  developed  a  phase  of  religious 
life  which  emphasized  the  indwelling 
of  the  Spirit ;  and  as  they  quaked  with 
emotion,  while  the  Spirit  moved  them, 
they  were  given  the  derisive  name  of 
Quakers,  a  title  which  with  all  its  ec- 
centricities has  been  associated  with 
tranquillity,  courage,  and  the  spirit  of 
peace. 

1  St.  John's  Memorial  Chapel,  Cambridge,  March 
19,  1893. 

104 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

On  the  road  outside  Jerusalem  hung 
the  body  of  a  Galilean  peasant  upon  a 
cross.  Art  and  fiction  have  given  the 
scene  a  touch  of  picturesqueness  which 
it  did  not  have  in  reality.  The  man  who 
hung  there  was,  in  the  eyes  of  those  who 
held  the  law  in  their  hands,  a  felon, 
justly  crucified.  To  be  sure,  some 
months  before,  He  had  shown  unique 
powers  ;  He  had  lifted  the  sick  from 
their  couches  and  called  the  dead  from 
the  grave.  There  was  something  about 
Him  which  had  appealed  to  the  com- 
mon people  and  to  the  degraded.  He 
had  made  for  Himself  high  claims  ;  but 
to  those  in  power,  He  was  an  impostor, 
a  blasphemer,  and  a  deceiver. 

His  trial  was  past,  and  He  had  been  led 
out.  The  first  agony  had  been  endured ; 
death  was  coming  fast  upon  Him.  To 
those  beneath  the  cross  it  was  incompre- 
hensible that  one  who  had  power  over 
the  lives  of  others,  and  who  had  saved 
them,  should  not  be  able  to  save  Himself. 
No  wonder,  then,  that  the  chief  priests 
threw  the  taunt  into  his  teeth,  that  what 
He  had  done  for  others.  He  was  unable 
to  do  for  Himself.  "  Likewise  also,  the 
chief  priests,  mocking  him  with  the 
105 


THE   PRIESTS'  TAUNT 

scribes  and  elders,  said,  he  saved  others, 
himself  he  cannot  save."  ^ 

As  we  hear  these  words,  however,  we 
repeat  them  again  and  again  with  a 
glad  satisfaction,  that  there  hung  one 
who,  though  a  fool  in  the  eyes  of  the 
spectators,  was  in  his  very  foolishness 
giving  to  the  world  the  supreme  example 
of  self-sacrifice.  We  think  of  those  men 
as  utterly  depraved,  that  when  such  a 
spirit  of  courage  and  sacrifice  was  be- 
fore them,  they  could  not  appreciate 
it.  We  class  Jesus  and  the  priests  as  a 
part  of  the  history  of  early  days,  and  we 
find  it  almost  impossible  to  realize  that 
those  two  contrasted  spirits,  especially 
that  of  the  priests,  exist  in  our  lives  here 
and  to-day.  As  we  look,  however,  a  little 
deeper  into  the  principles  of  those  two 
phases  of  character,  what  were  the  es- 
sential elements  ?  On  the  one  side  was 
one  who  entered  this  world  simply  to  de- 
vote himself  to  the  saving  of  his  fellow- 
men  ;  on  the  other,  we  have  men  who, 
respectable  and  respected  by  the  com- 
munity, religious  in  their  way,  counted 
good  standing  and  one's  own  life  as  the 
dearest  thing  in  the  world. 

1  Matthew  xxvii.  41,  42. 
106 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

We  now  come  to  life  to-day.  I  wish  I 
could  put  it  in  the  form  that  would  seem 
real  and  natural  to  you  ;  but  let  us  sug- 
gest these  for  our  illustrations. 

A  young  man  graduates  from  college, 
of  ample  fortune,  of  excellent  social  stand- 
ing, with  high  prospects  for  the  increase 
of  his  fortune  in  business  and  the  widen- 
ing of  his  education  by  travel,  or  for  a  life 
of  leisure.  Instead  of  taking  up  with  these 
opportunities,  he  does  not  enter  business, 
nor  travel,  nor  loaf  ;  but  to  the  surprise 
of  his  friends,  and  under  the  deep  real- 
ization that  in  the  present  stress  of  civil- 
ization, men  of  the  finest  temperament, 
of  the  best  education,  and  high  social 
standing  are  needed  to  save  men  from  sin 
and  degradation,  and  the  community  from 
injustice,  he  devotes  himself,  not  in  a 
spasm  of  emotion  for  a  year  or  two,  but 
for  a  lifetime,  to  the  personal  work  of 
saving  souls.  His  classmates  lose  sight 
of  him,  he  is  never  seen  at  the  club,  he 
is  in  with  an  entirely  different  set  of  peo- 
ple ;  he  is  down  in  the  lowest  street  in 
the  slums,  living  there.  When  he  is 
fifty  years  old,  and  his  friends  are  sleek 
and  contented  in  their  routine,  he  is  aged 
and  gray  and  careworn.  There  is  not 
107 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

the  slightest  touch  of  romance  to  be 
found  about  him ;  he  has  simply  been 
doing  a  hard  and  thankless  piece  of 
work.  His  friends,  as  they  discuss  his 
life,  wonder  what  he  has  done  that  for. 
Here  were  opportunities  which  he  has 
thrown  away,  friendships  which  he  has 
lost,  happy  years  which  have  been  no- 
thing to  him,  and  what  has  he  to  show 
for  it .''  Nothing  but  an  endless  run  of 
committee  meetings  and  charity  associ- 
ations, and  a  long  story  of  discourage- 
ments, reformed  men  who  have  broken 
their  pledge,  boys  whom  he  has  worked 
over  who  have  turned  out  badly.  While, 
to  be  sure,  he  has  been  successful  in  cer- 
tain ways,  exactly  what  ways  or  how 
successful  they  know  not  and  care  little. 
"  Why,"  his  friends  say,  "  he  has  spent 
his  whole  life  in  trying  to  save  others, 
and  he  has  not  taken  the  trouble  to 
save  anything  for  himself,  either  in  the 
way  of  comfort  or  pleasure  or  money." 
Do  we  not  herein  catch  a  note  of  the 
priests'  surprise  or  derision .''  He  has 
wasted  his  life  saving  others,  and  he 
has  not  had  the  sense  to  save  anything 
for  himself. 

Occasionally,    some   woman    of    high 
1 08 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

rank  breaks  from  ordinary  associations 
of  life,  and  enters  with  all  devotion  into 
the  work  of  saving  souls.  She  does  not 
mind  if  in  the  doing  of  this  she  offends 
the  conventional  ideas  of  her  class.  How 
quickly,  however,  comes  the  criticism,  — 
the  suggestion  of  eccentricity,  or  of  am- 
bition, or  emotionalism  ;  how  prone  we 
are  to  suspect  of  fanaticism  any  one  who 
breaks  out  from  the  conventional  circle 
and  takes  up,  with  a  complete  devotion  to 
Christ,  the  work  for  humanity. 

As  we  see  such  careers  in  the  vista  of 
history,  and  hear  their  names  as  they  have 
been  canonized  by  the  Church,  and  catch 
a  glimpse  of  their  faces  in  the  stained 
windows,  there  is  a  picturesqueness  to 
the  careers.  But  if  we  had  lived  in  the 
days  of  those  saints,  we  would  have 
found  the  same  commonplace  features 
that  we  find  in  the  devoted  of  to-day. 
We  have  not  got  to  go  back  a  half  cen- 
tury to  find  those,  who,  having  thrown 
away  their  fortunes  and  positions  in 
behalf  of  humanity,  have  met  from  a 
large  part  of  the  community  the  taunt 
of  the  priests  ;  they  have  been  called  ec- 
centrics, or  fanatics,  or  fools,  or  knaves. 

But,  as  I  have  already  said,  as  soon  as 
109 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

the  picturesque  feature  of  self-sacrifice 
appears,  it  appeals  to  us  in  a  way  that 
the  commonplace  self-sacrifice  cannot. 

Still,  even  in  the  name  of  picturesque- 
ness,  Christian  self-sacrifice  has  a  claim 
upon  the  civilization  of  these  days. 
There  is,  as  we  well  know,  a  common 
impression  among  the  finely  cultured, 
the  over-sensitive,  and  the  artistic,  that 
the  Christian  religion  is  rather  a  com- 
monplace affair.  We  hear  a  good  deal 
about  the  Philistinism  of  the  religion 
of  the  middle  classes,  of  the  crudities  of 
some  of  their  worship,  of  the  vulgarity 
of  the  Salvation  Army,  and  of  the  nasal 
voice  of  the  exhorter.  We  are  familiar 
with  the  taunt  that  the  religion  of  these 
days  is  very  commonplace  and  uninter- 
esting. But  after  all,  my  friends,  is  not 
life  on  the  whole,  if  looked  at  from  the 
picturesque  point  of  view,  very  common- 
place and  uninteresting.''  There  is  no- 
thing that  touches  us  or  our  finer  natures 
in  the  ledgers  and  in  the  stores  and  in 
the  thousands  of  dressmakers  and  shop- 
keepers ;  the  whole  thing  is  common- 
place, if  we  must  look  at  life  from  that 
point  of  view. 

On  the  other  hand,  this  fact  stands, 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

that  with  all  the  commonplaceness  of  re- 
ligious life,  it  affords,  in  this  generation, 
as  it  has  in  all  the  generations  since 
Christ  hung  upon  the  cross,  the  most 
beautiful,  the  most  picturesque,  the  most 
unique  features  of  courage  and  of  self- 
sacrifice. 

Is  it  not  so  ?  Do  not  even  those  who 
pass  a  dilettante  life  in  the  study  of  art 
and  literature  and  in  the  reading  of 
novels,  who  rarely  stir  themselves  to  any 
self-denial  of  their  own,  but  who  turn 
with  avidity  to  the  picturesque  self-sac- 
rifice of  others,  do  not  they  turn  to  Chris- 
tian art  and  to  Christian  history  to  get 
their  blood  stirred  with  the  noblest  act 
of  self-sacrifice  ?  Is  it  irritating  to  be 
obliged  to  appeal  to  Christian  self-sacri- 
fice on  the  ground  of  picturesqueness  ? 
Certainly,  it  is  not  a  high  appeal ;  but  if 
that  is  what  some  people  count  as  the 
most  interesting  and  most  enviable  thing 
in  life  in  these  days,  then  let  us  who  are 
Christians  claim  that  for  Christ.  And 
from  the  romantic  stories  and  martyr- 
doms of  the  missionaries  of  the  last 
twenty-five  years,  from  the  story  of  Gor- 
don, and  Damien,  and  from  the  instances 
of  devotion  in  all  countries  of  Christen- 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

dom,  let  us  claim  for  Christianity  a  pic- 
turesqueness  and  an  interest  and  a  ro- 
mance which  is  brilliant  and  glorious  as 
compared  with  the  dull  cynicism  of  an 
over-ripe  culture. 

Here,  now,  we  come  to  the  truth ;  that 
at  some  time  or  other,  one  has  got  to 
make  his  choice  between  the  spirit  of  the 
priest  and  the  spirit  of  Christ.  We  are 
all  conscious  of  the  same  effort  to  hold 
the  spirit  of  both,  but  it  is  an  impossibility. 
We  have  got  to  save  others,  or  save  our- 
selves. Life  must  have  its  compensations. 
There  cannot  be  gains  without  losses,  or 
losses  without  gains.  The  soldier  who 
cares  to  have  his  name  cut  in  the  tablets  of 
Memorial  Hall  as  a  call  of  patriotism  to 
the  coming  generations  cannot  have  that 
glory  and  at  the  same  time  save  his  life. 
The  scholar  who  is  intent  upon  the  dis- 
covery of  some  deep  truth,  and  who  will 
have  that  truth,  even  though  he  deny 
himself  what  others  call  the  very  essen- 
tials of  life,  must  be  content  to  risk  his 
health,  comfort,  pleasure,  and  fortune, 
and  to  lose  them,  if  by  so  doing  he  can 
gain  the  truth.  In  other  words,  to  come 
back  to  one  of  the  fundamental  facts  of 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

life  as  well  as  of  the  philosophy  of  Christ, 
if  a  man  will  lose  his  life  for  others,  he 
will  find  it,  but  if  he  is  bent  on  finding 
only  his  own  life,  he  will  be  sure  to  lose 
it.  In  all  the  intricacies  of  modern  civil- 
ization, the  variety  of  motives,  the  multi- 
plicity of  rewards,  it  is  very  difficult  in 
practical  life  to  keep  this  fundamental 
distinction  clear  ;  but  there  it  is,  and  it  is 
the  part  and  the  duty  of  every  man  to 
use  his  reason  and  his  character  in  order 
to  try  to  discover  what  for  him  are  the 
lines  of  movement  in  the  carrying  out  of 
the  principle. 

I  want  now  to  speak  rather  plainly  as 
to  a  few  of  the  duties  which,  as  it  strikes 
me,  the  Christian  life  of  to-day  lays  upon 
us.  I  am  not  going  to  say  a  word  that 
is  not  familiar  to  you  all,  and  yet  it  may 
be  that  the  emphasis  of  a  familiar  word 
will  come  with  some  added  force. 

The  fact  is  that  there  are  certain 
questions  and  sorrows  and  sins  facing 
us  in  these  days  that  have  got  to  be 
met.  They  are  not  going  to  be  met  by 
pessimists  or  cynics ;  they  are  not  going 
to  be  met  by  those  who  are  sitting  in 
easy  chairs,  and  bemoaning  the  degraded 
113 


THE    PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

condition  of  politics  and  of  society ;  they 
are  not  going  to  be  met,  in  fact,  in  any 
way  but  by  an  enormous  amount  of  self- 
consecration  and  self-sacrifice  on  the 
part  of  Christian  people. 

Ingersoll  and  his  followers  may  scoff 
at  Christians  and  their  selfishness,  and 
they  may  have  good  reason  to  do  so,  but 
neither  he  nor  his  followers  are  found 
working  in  the  city  slums.  When  work 
is  to  be  done,  it  is  to  the  Christian 
world  and  to  the  Church  that  modern 
society  has  got  to  turn,  and  has  a  right 
to  turn,  and  to  them  it  does  turn.  Now 
these  facts  are  staring  us  in  the  face  : 
that  there  is  in  our  large  cities,  and  in 
the  same  proportion  in  our  smaller  cities, 
and  in  equal  if  not  in  greater  proportion 
in  our  country  towns,  a  horde  of  degraded 
and  vicious  people  ;  —  we  may  call  them 
the  offscourings  of  other  nations,  or  the 
degraded  of  our  own  ;  you  may  speak  of 
them  in  the  North  as  hoodlums,  or  in 
the  South  as  poor  whites,  the  fact  stands 
that  here  they  are  ;  —  that  there  are 
drunkards  and  fallen  women  by  the  tens 
of  thousands  ;  that  our  poor-houses,. our 
insane  asylums,  and  our  state  prisons  are 
crowded  as  fast  as  we  build  them  ;  that 
114 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

the  increase  of  our  cities  is  herding  our 
population  in  a  way  that  sends  a  shock 
through  our  natures  ;  that  the  sweating 
system  is  with  us,  as  it  was  in  the  Lon- 
don of  Dickens  and  Charles  Reade ;  and 
that  only  a  small  fraction  of  our  popula- 
tion is  found  inside  of  church  on  Sun- 
day, and  that  a  very  large  fraction  is 
going  without  any  practical  or  effective 
knowledge  of  Christ  at  all. 

"This  is  true,"  you  say,  "but  this  is 
only  one  phase  of  our  modern  civiliza- 
tion." "It  is  peculiar  to  large  cities." 
"We  are  on  the  whole  improving;  we 
have  our  public  schools  and  our  churches 
and  our  charitable  organizations,  as  a  con- 
stant force  towards  the  uplifting  of  the 
community."  Again  I  suggest  that  while 
the  masses  may  be  in  the  larger  cities, 
the  same  features  are  everywhere.  There 
is  not  one  of  the  evil  features  that  I  have 
mentioned  which  we  associate  with  East 
London  and  New  York  and  the  North 
End  of  Boston,  and  which  we  say  should 
be  eradicated  in  those  cities,  which  does 
not  exist  in  this  city  of  Cambridge,  in 
its  proportion.  "Ah  !  but  then,  the  leg- 
islature is  at  work  on  some  of  these 
questions,  and  the  experts  are  studying 
115 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

other  features  of  them  ;  the  reformers 
and  the  doctors  are  putting  their  shoul- 
ders to  the  wheel,  and  the  ministers  are 
in  the  midst  of  the  battle ;  we  hear  of 
the  increase  of  charity  institutions  and 
university  houses.  Surely  the  people  are 
doing  a  great  deal."  Yes,  they  are  do- 
ing a  great  deal ;  but  who  are  the  legis- 
lators and  charity  workers,  unless  they 
be  a  few  of  the  great  body  of  the  peo- 
ple .''  They  are  no  class  by  themselves, 
set  apart  for  such  things.  They  are 
ordinary  men  and  women  just  like  your- 
selves, who,  losing  some  of  the  chances 
of  fortune,  are  trying  to  do  something 
for  somebody  else. 

What,  then,  I  want  to  say,  is  that  the 
men  and  women  and  the  children  of  the 
degraded,  of  the  pagan  and  of  the  out- 
cast, have  got  to  be  saved  ;  and  in  the 
name  of  civilization  and  of  Christ,  some- 
body has  got  to  help.  And  that  help  is 
not  going  to  be  given  by  spasms  of  emo- 
tion, or  by  reading  the  newspapers  and 
the  periodicals,  or  by  an  occasional  half- 
hour  ;  but  by  determined  and  life-long 
self-sacrifice. 

In  the  first  place,  any  man  or  woman 
who  has  not  upon  him  a  deep  sense  of 
ii6 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

responsibility  for  the  salvation  of  some- 
body else,  who  throws  it  off  as  soon  as 
he  puts  his  hand  into  his  pocket  and 
has  given  some  change  to  the  beggar  or 
a  few  hundred  dollars  for  the  employ- 
ment of  the  unemployed,  who  has  no 
idea  of  bringing  his  life  into  personal 
contact  with  the  life  of  some  one  who 
needs  it,  who  is  not  ready  to  give  up 
some  of  the  pleasanter  features  of  life 
in  order  that  he  may  lay  a  hand  to  this 
immediate  work,  even  though  he  be  con- 
firmed and  a  communicant  a  dozen  times, 
has  not  in  him  the  first  element  of 
Christ's  spirit. 

This,  of  course,  is  true,  that  special 
lines  of  work  have  got  to  be  taken  by 
men  and  women  specially  trained  and 
devoted  to  that  work.  But  the  question 
that  I  ask  is,  Why  should  not  there  be, 
in  a  community  like  this  and  in  a  con- 
gregation like  this,  one  person  or  an- 
other, here  or  there,  who  determines 
with  the  fullest  consecration  that  they 
will  give  their  life  for  such  special  work  ? 
In  every  group  of  young  men,  there  are 
one,  two,  or  half  a  dozen  who  have  for- 
tune enough  not  to  call  them  to  enter 
business,  who  are  free  enough  to  be 
117 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

men  of  leisure,  and  who  may  be  men 
of  leisure  if  they  be  not  something  far 
nobler,  —  men  of  devotion.  This,  it 
seems  to  me,  is  one  of  the  highest  calls 
of  heroism  for  the  next  generation.  The 
past  generation  had  its  call  in  the  war, 
and  it  is  wonderful  to  think  what  those 
young  men  did,  what  tremendous  con- 
centration of  power  there  was,  how  un- 
known elements  of  character  sprung 
forth  at  the  bidding  of  the  country.  As 
Phillips  Brooks  once  told  me,  the  morn- 
ing after  he  had  passed  an  evening  with 
the  Loyal  Legion  and  heard  the  talk  of 
the  veterans,  "  Why,  the  war  was  fought 
by  a  lot  of  boys !  They  were  all  so 
young  ! "  And  as  we  think  of  the  un- 
developed powers  and  devotion  and  self- 
sacrifice  that  are  resting  in  this  com- 
munity now,  our  imagination  can  hardly 
reach  the  possibility  of  work  that  might 
be  done,  if  a  fraction  of  them  would 
throw  themselves  into  the  salvation  of 
some  of  the  people  of  this  generation, 
as  did  those  of  the  last  for  the  saving 
of  the  nation. 

Why  should   not,  then,  a  young  man 
give  himself,  not  necessarily  to  the  min- 
istry, but  to  the  skilled,  intelligent,  and 
ii8 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

devoted  work  of  some  phase  of  social 
uplifting,  and  in  the  name  of  Christ 
throw  some  of  the  compensations  of  life 
away  in  order  that  he  may  gain  the 
higher  compensation  of  souls  won  to 
purity  and  to  Christ  ? 

I  make  the  same  appeal  to  the  women. 
One  is  bewildered  by  the  opportunities ; 
and  one  sometimes  feels  as  if  the  emer- 
gency were  such  that  a  good  part  of  the 
community  might  well  turn  their  hand 
towards  special  work  calling  for  special 
skill  and  devotion. 

"  Ah !  "  you  say,  "  is  there  no  danger 
of  unsettling  us  ?  Most  of  us  have  our 
home  duties,  families  to  support,  chil- 
dren to  bring  up,  aged  parents  to  care 
for,  ties  which  are  as  sacred  to  us  as 
any  of  these  obligations."  True,  and 
no  call  of  Christ's  can  ever  be  stronger 
than  the  call  to  devotion  in  the  homes. 
None  of  us  have  sympathy  with  philan- 
thropists who  neglect  their  home  duties 
for  society's  welfare,  and  thus  undo  the 
very  work  they  are  trying  to  do.  Do  not 
understand  me  as  depreciating  the  char- 
itable and  religious  work  that  is  being 
done  by  the  thousands  of  men  and  women 
who  have  their  home  duties.  It  is  one 
119 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

of  the  hopeful  features  of  the  day,  the 
number  of  people  who  go  from  their 
homes  to  pass  a  few  hours  each  week  in 
work  for  others.  The  very  fact  that 
they  come  from  a  home  and  are  not  spe- 
cialists gives  a  charm  and  an  atmosphere 
to  their  work.  This  is  all  good  and 
great. 

But  I  have  tried  to  put  in  strong  words 
the  call  for  special  work  by  those  who 
have  the  freedom  to  enter  it. 

And  now  let  me  close  by  speaking 
also  for  the  call  for  the  home-work  by 
those  whose  duty  keeps  them  at  home. 
The  whole  question  resolves  itself,  it 
seems  to  me,  into  this  —  into  the  spirit 
in  which  we  undertake  our  home  duties. 
Is  it  with  any  narrow  sympathy  or  social 
ambition  that  we  devote  ourselves  to 
our  duties  there .''  Are  we  bringing  up 
our  children  simply  with  a  hope  that 
they  are  going  to  be  a  little  better  than 
we  are .''  Or  have  we,  deep  down,  as  our 
commanding  motive  the  full  spirit  of 
consecration,  that  we  shall  throw  our- 
selves into  our  home-life  in  order  that 
we  may  do  the  very  best  that  we  can  for 
God  and  for  humanity,  in  order  that  we 
may  bring  our  children  up,  not  in  the 


THE   PRIESTS'   TAUNT 

narrow  horizon  of  what  is  called  society 
life,  but  in  the  wider  horizon  that  so- 
ciety life  is  not  for  its  own  amusement, 
but  for  the  cultivation  and  the  uplifting 
of  the  whole  society  ? 

Have  we  for  the  highest  motive  this, 
that  our  children  —  or  if  we  are  young, 
that  by  our  example,  our  younger  bro- 
thers and  sisters  —  shall  be  completely 
devoted  to  leading  a  life  after  Christ ; 
that  they  shall  do  everything  in  their 
power  to  touch  this  one  and  that  one 
with  the  spirit  of  Christ  ?  In  other 
words,  have  we  it  on  our  minds  that  the 
great  work  of  life  is  not  to  keep  well  fed 
and  clothed  and  pass  life  smoothly,  but 
to  help  other  people  to  try  to  make 
other  people  better,  to  save  other  people  ? 
Have  we  it  as  our  supreme  privilege  to 
bring  other  people  to  the  life  in  Christ 
at  the  cost  of  our  own  pride  and  self- 
satisfaction  ?  Have  we  as  the  highest 
word  that  can  be  spoken  of  us,  the  scoff 
of  the  priest,  "  He  saved  others,  but  as 
for  himself,  he  has  thrown  away  what 
we  call  the  pleasures  and  satisfactions  of 
life ;  he  has  not  saved  himself  ? " 


VIII 

THREE    CHARACTERS  ^ 

You  recall  the  story  that  is  told  in  the 
fifth  chapter  of  the  Acts  about  the  re- 
lease of  St.  Peter  and  the  other  apostles 
from  the  prison  into  which  they  had  been 
put  by  command  of  the  high  priest,  the 
report  of  the  officers  that  their  former 
prisoners  were  teaching  in  the  Temple, 
the  second  arrest,  and  their  appearance 
before  the  council  of  the  Sanhedrim. 

It  is  of  this  council,  or  rather  of  three 
different  characters  that  appear  in  it, 
that  I  want  to  speak  this  morning. 
These  are  the  high  priest  and  Sanhe- 
drim, Gamaliel,  and  the  apostles.  For, 
in  our  study,  I  think  we  shall  find  they 
stand  for  something  more  than  them- 
selves. They  represent  three  types  of 
character  which  are  found  in  every  age 
or  council  of  men  where  a  new  truth  is 
called  in  question.    My  hope,  therefore,  is 

1  St.  John's  Memorial  Chapel,  Cambridge,  April 
26,  1891. 

122 


THREE  CHARACTERS 

not  to  study  and  leave  these  men  in  Jeru- 
salem, but  to  bring  them  into  the  midst 
of  the  questions  and  councils  of  to-day. 

In  the  midst  of  a  people  who  were 
conservative  by  nature  and  history,  and 
who  took  a  pardonable  pride  in  their  re- 
ligion and  the  deep  truths  that  had  been 
revealed  to  them,  there  suddenly  appeared 
a  small  group  of  men  proclaiming  a  new 
truth,  a  Messiah ;  one  who  was  to  do 
away  with  the  old  regime,  and  set  up  a 
new,  a  larger,  and  a  truer  spiritual  king- 
dom. And,  as  if  to  add  insult  to  injury, 
these  teachers  of  new  doctrine  had 
thrown  upon  the  representatives  of  the 
old  order  the  responsibility  of  the  cruci- 
fixion of  their  Master,  who,  however, 
had  risen  again,  and  now,  in  the  person 
of  the  apostles  and  the  power  of  His 
Spirit,  was  ready  to  renew  the  struggle. 

As,  then,  we  enter  the  council  in  im- 
agination this  morning,  the  first  charac- 
ters that  call  our  attention  are  the  high 
priest  and  the  members  of  the  Sanhe- 
drim ;  for  in  position  they  are  most  con- 
spicuous, being  the  judges,  and  in  stren- 
uousness  of  voice  they  drown  the  words 
of  the  others. 

123 


THREE   CHARACTERS 

In  such  a  deliberative  assembly,  a 
shrill  or  strident  voice  usually  betokens 
weakness  on  the  part  of  the  speaker.  He 
either  lacks  confidence  in  the  strength 
of  his  argument  or  his  method  of  treat- 
ment, or  he  wants  faith  in  the  supremacy 
of  truth.  He  therefore  is  driven  to 
substitute  noise  for  reason,  epithets  for 
arguments,  and  force  for  persuasion. 

These  were  just  the  weak  points  of 
these  so-called  judges  and  interpreters. 
They  have  been  and  still  are  the  weak 
points  of  their  successors  in  character 
to  this  day. 

We  have,  for  instance,  inherited  the 
beliefs  of  our  fathers,  and  we  treasure 
them.  But  new  phases  of  truth  appear ; 
the  discoveries  of  science  call  on  us  to 
readjust  our  ideas  as  to  the  antiquity  of 
the  world  and  of  man.  The  students 
of  history  appeal  to  us  to  change  our 
views  as  to  some  of  the  books  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  our  theory  of  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  Bible.  It  may  be  that  the 
movement  of  our  thought  calls  upon  us 
to  sound  deeper  depths  than  these,  and 
to  test  the  fundamentals  of  our  faith. 

At  all  events,  new  phases  of  truth  in 
all  directions  make  a  demand  that  each 
124 


THREE   CHARACTERS 

of  US  shall  think,  judge,  and  discriminate. 
How  shall  we  meet  those  who  in  all 
sincerity  bring  forth  these  new  phases  ? 
The  two  methods  which  the  followers 
of  the  Sanhedrim  used  have  been  tried 
again  and  again,  and  have  failed. 

Force  in  suppression  of  truth  must 
necessarily  fail.  Every  time  that  you 
attempt  to  imprison  those  who  have  a 
word  to  say  for  truth,  and  every  time 
that  you  try  to  shut  down  the  latest  dis- 
covery, you  have  over  again  the  history 
of  the  apostles.  In  some  mysterious 
way  the  prison  doors  are  opened.  No 
earthly  keepers,  no  Roman  emperor,  no 
soldiers  of  the  Vatican,  no  condemna- 
tion or  burning  of  heretics,  whether 
a  Galileo,  a  Servetus,  or  a  Huss,  has 
succeeded  in  suppressing  their  voices. 
Sometime,  it  may  not  be  for  generations, 
it  is  found  that  God's  angel  has  thrown 
open  the  prison  doors,  and  that  their 
voices  are  heard  in  the  great  temple  of 
the  world's  thought  and  activities. 

The  ashes  of  the  body  of  Wycliffe,  cast 
into  the  brook,  tell  in  familiar  parable 
the  story  of  all  such  effort :  — 

"  As  thou  these  ashes,  little  brook,  wilt  bear 
Into  the  Avon,  Avon  to  the  tide 

125 


THREE  CHARACTERS 

Of  Severn,  Severn  to  the  narrow  seas, 
Into  main  ocean  they,  this  deed  accursed 
An  emblem  yields  to  friends  and  enemies 
How  the  bold  teacher's  doctrine,  sanctified 
By  truth,  shall  spread,  throughout  the   world  dis- 
persed." 

The  Church  is  discovering  by  experi- 
ence, though  occasionally  we  are  warned 
that  the  discovery  is  not  complete,  what 
she  might  have  learned  centuries  ago 
by  heeding  Christ's  words,  that  truth 
cannot  be  suppressed  by  force  :  "  My 
kingdom  is  not  of  this  world  ;  if  my 
kingdom  were  of  this  world,  then  would 
my  servants  fight." 

Failing  this,  the  Church  and  Christian 
people  have  not  yet  freed  themselves 
from  another  dangerous  and  useless 
weapon  of  suppression.  To-day  public 
opinion  wields  the  power  that  armies  of 
trained  men  used  to  have.  And  popular 
prejudice  may,  if  skilfully  played  upon, 
fulfil  the  work  of  the  sword  and  stake. 

It  was  a  weapon  which  the  Jewish 
priests  and  the  Pharisees  knew  how  to 
wield,  as  they  led  the  people  on  to  de- 
mand the  crucifixion ;  it  is  a  weapon 
which  men  and  women  who  love  their 
own  opinions  more  dearly  than  the  truth 
wield  skilfully  to-day. 
126 


THREE   CHARACTERS 

A  new  phase  of  thought  makes  itself 
heard  in  a  community.  Earnest  and 
pure-minded  men  and  women,  whose  in- 
telligence gives  them  a  right  to  speak, 
stand  sponsor  for  it.  Whether  it  is  true 
or  not  may  be  in  doubt :  but  that  it  has 
a  right  to  a  hearing  and  a  deliberative 
judgment  would  seem  to  be  hardly  an 
open  question.  Yet,  almost  before  its 
statement  is  made,  before  men  know 
exactly  what  the  new  doctrine  is,  the 
appeal  to  popular  prejudice  begins  :  epi- 
thets are  bandied  about.  Because  one 
does  not  believe  about  the  Scriptures  as 
his  neighbor  does,  he  is  said  to  be  throw- 
ing away  the  Scriptures  ;  because  one 
is,  as  far  as  he  understands  it,  a  believer 
in  evolution,  he  is  called  an  atheist ;  be- 
cause one  does  not  hold  certain  views 
about  the  ministry,  or  it  may  be  about 
some  detail  of  ritual,  he  is  called  "no 
Churchman,"  and  so  on  in  wearisome 
iteration. 

These  are  not  exaggerations.  Within 
a  few  weeks  I  have  had  a  young  man 
come  to  me  in  distress,  because  he  had 
been  told  by  a  Christian  friend  that  he 
was  an  unbeliever.  And  on  inquiry  I 
found  that  the  reason  for  such  an  accu- 
127 


THREE   CHARACTERS 

sation  was  that  the  young  man  did  not 
believe  that  the  world  was  made  in  six 
days. 

And  the  fault  is  not  all  on  one  side. 
If  Christian  believers  and  conservative 
supporters  of  the  faith  are  to  blame  for 
substituting  prejudice  for  argument,  the 
unbeliever  meets  the  same  temptation. 
What  shall  we  say  of  a  man  like  Mr. 
Huxley,  who,  respected  and  an  authority 
in  his  own  pursuits,  systematically  blinds 
his  eyes  to  the  movements  of  Christian 
thought,  and  perversely  interpreting  the 
Scriptures  and  Christian  truth  after  a 
method  now  discarded  by  the  leading 
religious  minds,  appeals  to  popular  pre- 
judice against  Christian  truth  .'' 

Have  we  not  in  such  a  spirit  the  type 
of  the  high  priest  and  the  Sanhedrim, 
just  as  clearly  as  we  find  it  in  the  petty 
religionist  who  misinterprets  science  for 
his  own  purposes .-' 

No,  my  friends,  the  whole  business  of 
suppression  of  thought  by  epithet  and 
appeal  to  prejudice  shows  lamentable 
weakness  of  faith  in  the  truth  that  we 
hold.  If  we  are  afraid  to  have  our 
creeds  and  our  dearest  faiths  meet  the 
open  light  of  day,  if  we  must  hold  them 
128 


THREE   CPIARACTERS 

away  from  examination  and  criticism, 
then  we  may  well  question  if  they  are 
God's  truths ;  for  how  can  the  truth 
itself  be  afraid  to  meet  the  face  of  the 
truth-seeker?  Shall  we  not  rather  wel- 
come him  as  a  friend  on  the  same  quest 
for  truth  ? 

When,  then,  my  friend,  you  find  your- 
self casting  an  epithet  at  one  with  whom 
you  disagree,  when  you  are  about  to 
suppress  his  statement  with  a  slur  at 
his  unbelief  or  at  his  orthodoxy,  check 
yourself.  Ask  yourself,  is  it  worthy  of 
the  truth  to  treat  it  so  ?  is  it  worthy  of 
yourself  ?  does  it  betoken  a  confidence 
in  your  truth,  or  a  latent  weakness  of 
faith  ?  Persuasion,  not  oppression,  is 
the  weapon  of  the  faithful. 

How  different,  then,  is  the  large  faith 
and  the  confidence  in  the  truth  of  one 
member  of  the  Sanhedrim,  the  second 
subject  of  our  study,  Gamaliel,  —  Gama- 
liel, the  teacher  of  Paul  in  his  youth, 
the  most  learned  and  respected  of  the 
Rabbles  ;  the  only  one  of  them  all  who 
had  the  courage  to  allow  his  students 
to  read  the  Greek  authors  ;  a  man  whose 
studies  and  experience  had  given  him  a 
129 


THREE   CHARACTERS 

large  vision  of  truth,  and  tlierefore  a  wide 
charity  and  tolerance  of  varied  forms  and 
interpreters  of  truth. 

The  sharp  words  of  the  others,  be- 
tokening their  weak  position,  sound  in 
the  hall,  and  their  querulous  accusation 
is  repeated,  "  Did  we  not  straitly  com- 
mand you  that  ye  should  not  teach  in 
this  name  ?  and  behold  ye  have  filled 
Jerusalem  with  your  doctrine,  and  intend 
to  bring  this  man's  blood  upon  us." 
Then,  in  response  to  the  challenge  of 
Peter,  "  We  ought  to  obey  God  rather 
than  men,"  they  add  violence  to  accu- 
sation and  take  counsel  to  slay  him. 

How  strong,  deep,  and  reassuring  is 
the  word  of  the  great  teacher !  Gama- 
liel appeals  to  their  experience  and  to 
their  deeper  faith.  God  has  His  truth  in 
charge.  Theudas  and  Judas  were  once 
new  and  popular  lights,  but  their  error 
carried  their  own  condemnation ;  they 
both  perished,  and  their  followers  were 
dispersed.  Why,  then,  when  God  had 
thus  justified  Himself,  should  the  San- 
hedrim now  undertake  to  anticipate  God 
in  this  doubtful  matter.?  "Now  I  say 
unto  you.  Refrain  from  these  men  and 
let  them  alone :  for  if  this  counsel  or 
130 


THREE   CHARACTERS 

this  work  be  of  men,  it  will  come  to 
naught.  But  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  cannot 
overthrow  it :  lest  haply  ye  be  found 
even  to  fight  against  God." 

It  is  the  word  of  a  true  philosopher. 
For  the  wider  our  experience  and  the 
larger  our  vision,  the  slower  will  we  be 
to  dogmatize  on  the  truth  or  error  of  any 
given  man.  Truth  sits  at  the  helm  of 
life  ;  why  not  trust  her  ?  Why  should  we 
go  rushing  about  here  and  there,  trim- 
ming our  sails  to  every  little  flaw  of  wind  ? 
Why  should  we  feel  it  necessary  to  set 
our  judgment  on  every  little  movement 
which  seems  to  be  for  or  against  our  in- 
terpretation of  the  truth  ?  Why  try  to 
head  off  every  little  symptom  of  hetero- 
doxy in  the  Church,  and  to  suppress 
every  man,  be  he  small  or  great,  who 
thinks  that  he  has  discovered  some- 
thing .''  Take  things  in  a  philosophic 
spirit ;  have  such  confidence  in  the  final 
victory  of  God  that  you  will  not  chafe 
and  fret  at  the  loss  of  a  little  skirmish. 

There  is  a  great  truth  in  all  this.  Ga- 
maliel is  great.  This  Gamaliel  spirit 
finds  its  home  in  universities  and  centres 
of  wide  thought  and  experience.  It  is 
one  of  the  great  conserving  influences 
131 


THREE   CHARACTERS 

which  Cambridge  has  sent  and  still 
sends  through  the  country,  this  faith 
in  God,  that  will  allow  God,  through  His 
chosen  servants  in  civic  and  religious 
and  social  life,  to  quietly  and  gradually 
reform  society  and  lead  men  to  higher 
visions  and  nobler  ideals.  It  is  a  calm 
faith  which  is  at  once  the  support  and 
the  irritant  of  the  ardent  reformer.  The 
enthusiast  accepts  the  fact  of  God  in 
charge  of  the  truth,  but  he  chafes  at  the 
slow  movement  and  at  the  calm  spirit  of 
those  who  seem  to  be  content  to  have 
it  slow.  "  If  the  thing  is  not  of  God, 
away  with  it,"  cries  the  ardent  practical 
worker.  "If  of  God,  support  it."  Ac- 
tion, enthusiasm,  is  his  motto.  "True  !  " 
answers  the  philosopher,  "  but  time  and 
experience  must  assure  us  which  is  of 
God,  and  which  not  ;  be  patient  ;  trust 
God." 

Noble  and  assuring  as  all  this  is, 
can  you  not  see  the  weak  spot  in  it .'' 
weak  just  where  Gamaliel  was  weak ; 
and  just  where  men  and  institutions  of 
wider  vision  are  weak  to-day. 

Apart  from  the  rush  and  strivings  of 
practical  life,  they  give  their  calm  judg- 
ment, and  then  shrink  from  taking  part 
132 


THREE   CHARACTERS 

in  the  action.  Let  the  high  priest  scold 
and  the  apostles  suffer,  the  truth  will 
result  in  the  end.  Let  the  small  men  of 
activity  to-day  struggle  in  their  restless 
way  with  the  problems  of  life.  Whether 
this  or  that  form  of  reformation  is  the 
best ;  whether  Christianity  or  cultivated 
paganism  is  to  rule  in  society  is  an  open 
question ;  whether  gambling  is  harm- 
less or  degrading  is  an  interesting  prob- 
lem ;  whether  intemperance  in  our  com- 
munities is  to  be  lessened  by  this  or  that 
method  is  not  easily  decided ;  but  how- 
ever these  things  are  settled,  God  has  His 
truth  in  hand  ;  things  will  come  out  right 
in  the  end,  and  the  ultimate  result  will 
be  for  truth. 

Thus  practical  indifference  takes  the 
place  of  a  noble  faith,  and  a  cultivated 
ease  finds  its  justification  in  a  great 
truth,  and  the  great  philosopher  be- 
comes the  patronizing  critic  of  his  age 
and  surroundings.  Gamaliel  uttered  his 
noble  thought,  and  then  sat  calmly  by, 
while  innocent  men  who  spoke  for  what 
they  believed  to  be  the  truth  were  cru- 
elly beaten.  He  spoke  for  fair  play,  and 
then  would  not  lift  a  hand  to  see  that 
fair  play  was  given. 

^33 


THREE   CHARACTERS 

And  the  Gamaliel  of  to-day  sits  in  his 
study  or  his  chair  at  the  club,  and  talks  of 
large  problems  of  life  and  elevation  of 
politics  and  saving  of  the  degraded ;  he 
is  the  patron  of  truth  in  all  forms  ;  he 
has  nothing  to  say  for  Christ  or  against 
Him  ;  in  his  superior  judicial  position, 
he  is  anxious  only  to  see  that  all  ideas 
have  a  fair  chance  ;  but  what  he  needs 
to  make  him  a  full  man  is  to  test  some 
of  his  large  thoughts  in  action,  and  to  be 
ready  not  only  to  talk,  but  to  suffer  for 
the  truth's  sake,  and  even  like  the  apos- 
tles to  rejoice  that  he  is  counted  worthy 
to  suffer  shame  in  the  name  of  his 
truth.  If  the  Christian  Church  had 
been  obliged  to  depend  upon  the  Gama- 
liels, it  would  not  have  survived  the  gen- 
eration. It  is  a  great  deed  to  open  up 
and  smooth  the  road  for  the  onward 
march  of  truth  ;  but  it  is  a  greater  deed 
to  march  on  the  road  as  the  teacher  and 
apostle  of  truth. 

Now  we  find  the  greatest  of  the  three 
types  of  character  in  the  council,  —  the 
apostles.  Thank  God,  there  have  been 
and  are  such  men ;  and  they  are  the 
noblest  men  of  all  time.  Their  large 
134 


THREE   CHARACTERS 

and  faithful  characters  throw  open  the 
windows  of  life  so  that  the  light  of  truth 
can  enter  ;  they  give  every  seeker  for  the 
truth  his  oj^portunity  to  speak.  But  they 
also,  like  the  apostle,  have  some  truth 
to  speak  and  live  for.  Their  action  is 
not  going  to  blind  their  eyes  to  the  truth 
which  other  men  have  to  give,  and  their 
wide  vision  and  calm  faith  are  not  going 
to  weaken  the  intensity  of  purpose  and 
sense  of  responsibility  to  turn  all  their 
powers  to  the  upholding  of  truth. 

Oh  !  how  I  wish  that  you,  who  in  this 
place  and  scholastic  atmosphere  have 
opportunity  to  gain  a  wide  vision,  to 
have  calm  confidence  in  God's  truth,  and 
amidst  clashing  opinions  to  trust  that  God 
will  in  time  reveal  His  truth,  and  who 
can  afford  to  be  tolerant  of  others'  con- 
victions, would  also  draw  into  your  char- 
acters a  burning  enthusiasm  to  work 
with  God  in  the  application  of  His  truth  ; 
with  the  Spirit  of  God  go  to  His  children 
and  speak  to  them  of  Him ;  go  to  those 
who  have  forgotten  Him,  and  rouse  them 
by  your  word  and  life  to  a  fresh  convic- 
tion of  His  comforting  presence  ;  go  as 
does  the  missionary  to  those  who  know 
not  His  name,  and  rejoice  to  work,  live, 
135 


THREE   CHARACTERS 

and  suffer  for  the  truth's  sake,  aye,  for 
Christ's  sake.  For  in  Him  you  have  the 
consummation  of  the  Gamaliels  and  the 
apostles,  the  philosophers  and  the  work- 
ers. 

You  cannot  say  that  the  two  spirits, 
that  of  the  philosopher  and  the  worker, 
are  inconsistent  and  impossible  in  the 
same  man  while  the  life  of  Jesus  stands 
before  you. 

Was  there  ever  a  man  so  self-poised 
in  his  faith  in  the  final  victory  of  truth, 
so  patient  in  waiting  for  her .-'  "  My 
Father  worketh  hitherto  and  I  work." 
No  violence,  suppression,  or  appeal  to 
prejudice  was  ever  His.  He  was  tolerant. 
"  Put  up  again  thy  sword  into  his  place, 
for  all  they  that  take  the  sword  shall 
perish  with  the  sword."  "Thy  kingdom 
come  "  was  his  prayer  ;  but  when,  how, 
and  where  was  in  God's  hands,  and  He 
was  content  to  wait.  So  great  was  His 
confidence  in  His  Father's  truth,  that 
He  who  saved  others  refused  to  save 
Himself.  Greater,  far  greater,  than  Ga- 
maliel, in  His  confidence  in  the  truth  ; 
greater,  far  greater  than  Peter,  in  His 
life's  activity  and  sacrifice  for  the  truth  ; 
embosomed  with  the  Father,  He  gave 
136 


THREE   CHARACTERS 

Himself  in  every  hour  of  the  day,  in 
every  detail,  in  meeting  the  meanest  and 
lowest,  with  the  perfect  abandonment 
of  self,  to  the  uplifting  of  His  brethren. 
This,  then,  is  the  sum  of  the  whole 
matter :  be  patient,  trust  God  and  His 
truth ;  be  full  of  action,  work  for  God 
and  His  truth. 

137 


IX 

THE    UNIVERSITY    MAN    IN    ACTIVE    LIFE  ^ 

There  are  certain  crises  in  life  when 
the  prime  object  is  not  to  gain  new 
strength  or  knowledge,  not  to  enter  into 
new  experiences,  but  simply  to  stand 
still  and  gather  to  one's  self  the  experi- 
ences of  the  past  and  the  anticipations 
of  the  future,  in  order  that  the  future 
may  be  more  effectively  met.  There  is, 
you  know,  the  supreme  moment  of  the 
athlete,  when  just  before  the  race  he  calls 
to  his  aid  all  his  experience,  strength, 
and  training,  casts  his  eye  on  the  goal, 
and  stands  ready  for  the  word.  It  is  the 
hour  in  which  the  soldier,  hearing  the 
guns  at  the  front,  quickly  touches  every 
part  of  his  equipment  to  be  sure  that  all 
is  in  place,  recollects  himself,  his  home, 
his  orders,  his  duty,  and  is  then  eager 
for  the  charge. 

Of  like  character,  my  friends  of   the 

1  Baccalaureate   Sermon,  Appleton  Chapel,   Har- 
vard University,  June  15,  1891. 
138 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN   ACTIVE   LIFE 

class  of  Ninety-one,  is  this  moment  in 
which  we  stand.  You  do  not  ask  me  to 
give  you  new  thoughts.  At  all  events, 
I  am  not  able  to  give  them.  What  we 
want,  as  I  understand,  is  simply  to  gather 
ourselves  together,  to  rally  to  ourselves 
the  experience  and  principles  of  the 
past  with  reference  to  the  future  ;  and 
so  to  be  more  vigorous,  more  intelligent 
and  more  truly  ambitious  in  our  new 
life. 

As  I  mention  this  new  life,  the  life 
outside  the  college  walls,  in  business, 
profession,  and  social  activities,  one  ques- 
tion rises  for  answer,  —  is  it  so  new  as 
some  of  us  think  .-•  Is  there,  in  principle 
at  least,  that  sharp  break  between  the 
university  life  and  the  business  life,  for 
instance,  that  many  men  emphasize  .-•  Is 
there  in  the  man  who  happens  to  be  a 
senior  to-day  and  a  clerk,  or  a  law-stu- 
dent, or  a  young  politician,  next  October, 
anything  inherently  different  in  princi- 
ple ?  If  so,  something  is  wrong,  either 
in  the  university  or  the  social  fabric.  Of 
course,  in  his  practical  and  to  a  certain 
degree  in  his  intellectual  and  moral  re- 
lations, a  man  may  change.  He  may 
become  a  harder  worker,  he  will  be  more 
139 


THE   UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

mature  in  judgment  and  more  conserva- 
tive in  life,  but  —  and  this  is  the  point 
I  want  to  emphasize  this  afternoon  — 
the  principles  which  inhere  in  the  true 
university  life  are  the  same  principles 
that  inhere  in  the  true  social  life. 
Rightly  considered,  the  ideal  college 
man  is  the  ideal  citizen.  Being  deeply 
convinced  of  this,  I,  as  I  have  already 
said,  have  nothing  new  to  give  you.  My 
one  object  is  to  try,  as  it  were,  to  gather 
together  a  few  of  your  university  prin- 
ciples, and  see  what  preparation  and 
experience  they  have  given  you  to  meet 
the  demands  of  this  generation.  It  is 
with  this  motive  that  I  have  chosen  this 
text  for  our  suggestion. 

"And  Elijah  took  twelve  stones,  ac- 
cording to  the  number  of  the  tribes  of 
Judah.  .  .  .  And  with  the  stones  he 
built  an  altar  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  ^ 

When  the  people  of  Israel  were  about 
to  enter  into  a  new  era  of  their  history, 
the  leader,  Elijah,  as  he  rebuilt  their 
altar,  built  it  not  of  new  material  and 
on  a  new  site;  but,  with  the  instinct 
of  a  true  statesman  who  knows  the 
worth  of  historic  continuity  and  ances- 

1  I  Kings  xviii.  31-32. 
140 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

tral  associations,  he  gathered  together 
the  twelve  old  stones,  endeared  by  many 
memories,  rebuilt  the  old  altar  along  the 
old  lines,  and  thus  announced  to  the 
people  that  their  new  life  was  to  be 
the  continuance  of  what  was  best  in  the 
old. 

As  one  looks  out  upon  life  to-day,  with 
its  intense  activity  and  magnificent 
achievements,  he  cannot  but  be  im- 
pressed with  one  characteristic  arising 
from  the  very  intensity  and  activity  of 
interest,  —  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  each 
man  to  confine  himself  and  his  sympa- 
thies to  the  profession,  business,  or  call- 
ing which  he  has  chosen. 

Division  of  labor  has  developed  with 
wonderful  rapidity,  and  with  the  de- 
mands of  trade  and  the  increase  of  in- 
ventions it  is  sure  to  develop  into  more 
thorough  and  exact  proportions.  As  a 
mechanical  and  financial  economy  (and 
this  has  been  the  first  consideration),  its 
results  have  been  marvellous.  But  the 
question  for  the  rising  generation  is  as 
to  its  effect  on  the  individual  character 
and  the  people  as  a  whole. 

I  speak  not  only  of  labor  divisions  in 
141 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

the  lower  mechanical  lines,  in  factory 
towns  where  it  is  most  easily  seen,  but 
in  the  higher  callings.  The  realm  of 
study  is  so  large  and  the  work  demanded 
so  thorough  that  a  man  in  order  to  be 
successful  is  pressed  to  turn  his  life  and 
interest  in  one  narrow  line  :  the  classi- 
cal scholar  may  spend  his  life  on  a  small 
section  of  philology,  the  entomologist  on 
one  insect,  the  lawyer  on  one  principle 
of  law,  the  theologian  on  one  detail  of 
doctrine. 

Hence  the  statement  is  made  that  in 
order  to  secure  success  in  the  next  gen- 
eration a  man  must  narrow  himself  to 
one  line  of  interest,  and  be  content  to 
be  a  narrow  man.  Granted  this,  and 
you  have  submitted  to  the  demoraliza- 
tion of  the  individual.  For  you  have 
laid  upon  the  men  of  the  highest  ambi- 
tion the  necessity  of  being  narrow  men. 
You  have  demanded  that  all  scientists 
shall  follow  the  example  of  their  master 
of  this  century,  Darwin  —  so  great  and 
at  the  same  time  so  limited — and  lose 
interest  in  poetry  and  religion.  You 
have  compelled  the  politician  to  be 
merely  a  politician,  the  meanest  of  men 
when  lost  to  nobler  sympathies  and  the 
142 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

higher  welfare  of  society.  You  have 
driven  the  business  man  to  be  only  a 
money-maker,  with  no  interest  in  the 
wider  benefits  of  commerce ;  and  you 
have  doomed  the  lawyer  to  a  narrow  life 
of  practice,  without  sympathy  with  the 
deeper  principles  of  law  whose  "  seat  is 
the  bosom  of  God." 

And  this  is  just  what  for  lack  of 
nobler  ideals  many  men  are  being  driven 
to,  or  are  drifting  to.  With  this  spirit 
existing  in  individuals,  we  shall  have 
society  formed  of  unsympathetic  groups 
and  atoms,  incapable  of  common  action, 
perpetually  misunderstanding  each  other, 
lost  in  petty  squabbles,  science  against 
religion,  trade  against  statesmanship, 
politicians  against  the  fundamentals  of 
morality  as  expressed  in  the  golden  rule, 
scholars  against  manufacturers,  class 
against  class.  Granted  this  apology  for 
a  narrow  life,  for  a  specialist  who  is  only 
a  specialist  and  nothing  more,  and  you 
have  lost  one  of  the  noblest  objects  and 
ideals  of  university  life.  No  such  opin- 
ion can  obtain  in  a  true  university,  and 
no  such  conviction  is  worthy  of  a  true 
university  man.  For  if  a  university 
stands  for  anything,  it  stands  for  the 
143 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

development  of  the  full  man  of  large 
character  and  wide  sympathies,  inspired 
with  an  intense  interest  in  his  own 
peculiar  line  of  work. 

This,  I  suppose,  is  what  brought  you 
to  Cambridge.  You  might  have  gained 
the  same  fitting  for  your  profession  in  a 
technical  school,  a  commercial  college, 
or  under  private  tutors.  You  might 
have  gained  that  and  more  in  a  college 
which  was  dominated  by  the  influence  of 
one  teacher  or  a  small  group  of  strong 
men.  But  you  have  come  here  to  gain 
the  knowledge  and  at  the  same  time  to 
breathe  the  atmosphere  and  absorb  the 
culture  which  the  wide  interests  of  a 
university  create.  Your  science  will  be 
no  less  that  of  an  expert  because  studied 
in  a  classic  atmosphere,  and  your  cul- 
ture will  thereby  be  larger ;  your  prin- 
ciples in  literature  and  art  will  be  no 
less  true  because  you  have  studied  them 
in  the  company  of  chemists  and  geolo- 
gists ;  and  your  religious  life  will  be  no 
less  deep  because  cultivated  in  a  place 
where  other  interests  group  themselves 
and  may  be  drawn  into  her  service.  It 
is  suggestive  that  at  Harvard  the  degree 
in  theology,  medicine,  or  law  comes  not 
144 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

from  the  professional  school,  but  from 
the  university,  as  though  the  mother 
would  give  her  children  no  token  with- 
out the  accompaniment  of  her  full,  large, 
and  rich  character. 

I  have  dwelt  on  this,  perhaps  too  much, 
because  I  wish  to  press  home  upon  you 
the  spirit  in  which  the  true  university 
man  takes  up  his  life  work,  intensely  in- 
terested in  his  own  pursuit  and  widely 
sympathetic  with  all  that  concerns  man. 
It  sounds  very  simple,  but  some  of  you 
will  find  its  practice  very  difficult.  The 
very  ambition  and  enthusiasm  in  your 
calling  which  goes  with  you  from  this 
place  will  tend  to  draw  you  into  a  con- 
centrated and  narrow  life.  Many  of  the 
older  men  who  stand  as  your  profes- 
sional examples  will  have  gained  their 
positions  at  the  loss  of  a  large  character 
and  sympathies.  You  will  find  yourself 
instinctively  apologizing  for  narrowing 
your  interests,  neglecting  your  public 
duties,  shirking  the  great  questions  of 
the  day,  and  forgetting  even  the  higher 
objects  of  your  profession.  Such  apolo- 
gies may  find  some  justification  in  the 
so-called  self-made  man,  in  the  uncul- 
tured servant  of  present  success ;  but 
145 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

they  have  no  place  in   the  Hfe  of  a  uni- 
versity man. 

If  you  are  to  be  a  teacher,  be  more 
than  a  man  who  merely  teaches  school. 
If  you  are  to  be  a  business  man,  be 
more  than  a  man  with  a  trade ;  consider 
your  business  in  its  wider  relations,  — 
to  other  trades,  to  economics,  to  society, 
to  character.  If  you  must  be  a  man  of 
leisure,  be  more  than  a  club  man  and  a 
loafer ;  you  have  untold  possibilities  to 
pass  your  leisure  in  absorbing  work  for 
your  city,  your  nation,  your  neighbor, 
in  art,  politics,  and  charity.  To  repeat 
the  cry  of  a  writer  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  "  We  want  public  souls,  we  want 
them  !  "  —  and  they  should  be  the  first 
fruits  of  a  university. 

Again,  a  generation  ago  the  final  ad- 
dress to  the  graduates  of  school  and 
college  often  closed  with  the  exhorta- 
tion that  they  should  "  make  a  name  " 
and  "be  heard  from."  We  are  now 
reaping  the  whirlwind  of  such  senti- 
ments in  the  popular  adulation  of  "  pub- 
licity." This  is  the  hour  when  we  should 
ask  ourselves  seriously  as  to  our  ideals. 
What  is  our  definition  of  personal  suc- 
146 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

cess  ?  Is  it  dependent  on  public  recog- 
nition ?  There  is  no  question  that  in 
the  popular  mind  success  is  closely  re- 
lated to  public  approval  or  renown.  Men 
instinctively  look  to  their  fellow  men  to 
judge  their  work,  and  where  their  own 
interest  is  concerned,  they  esteem  the 
quantity  rather  than  the  quality  of  ap- 
proval. Certainly  the  approval  of  worthy 
men  is  not  to  be  despised. 

But  does  not  the  ideal  of  success  in 
the  university  spirit  run  deeper  than 
that  ?  What  is  all  this  that  we  hear  of 
the  seeking  of  truth  for  truth's  sake,  of 
the  entering  into  the  higher  life  for  its 
own  sake,  in  man's  glory  in  living  for 
man,  if  not  that  we  are  truth-seekers 
and  pilgrims  of  the  higher  life  because 
these  are  the  true  missions  of  man  ?  And 
now  take  this  principle  into  "  the  mad- 
ding crowd."  Boldly  expressed,  it  has 
the  sound  of  a  visionary  or  a  prig  ;  but 
expressed  in  the  quiet  influence  of  an 
active,  earnest  life,  what  will  result .-' 
Instead  of  a  man  who  is  restlessly  run- 
ning here  and  there  to  catch  the  last 
popular  note,  who  is  working  at  the  bar 
or  in  the  town  hall  with  one  eye  on  the 
popular  effect,  who  is,  I  will  not  say 
147 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

poisoning,  but  simply  tincturing  his  call- 
ing with  those  subtle  elements  of  sham 
and  petty  immoralities  that  catch  the 
people's  eye  and  bring  in  the  dollars  ; 
instead  of  one  who  is  ever  anxious  lest 
the  fame  of  his  fortune  or  his  talents  do 
not  get  abroad  before  the  grave  closes 
on  him,  you  have  one  who  in  calm  con- 
fidence or  buoyant  enthusiasm  does  his 
duty  in  life,  puts  his  hand  to  the  busi- 
ness that  life  lays  on  him,  reaches  out 
his  hand  and  grasps  duties  that  without 
his  volunteer  service  life  would  not  have 
laid  upon  him  ;  you  have  the  student 
who,  in  his  patient  search  for  some 
secret  truth,  lets  the  world  hurry  by  and 
leave  him  stranded  in  his  dusty  alcove, 
for  his  wisdom  will  be  justified  by  wis- 
dom in  time  ;  you  have  the  minister  who, 
with  all  esteem  for  the  truth  of  the  past, 
does  his  quiet  work  and  is  unmoved  by 
the  cries  of  heresy-hunters  about  his 
heels  ;  you  have  the  man  of  public  spirit 
who,  regarding  at  its  highest  worth  the 
voice  of  the  people,  regards  first  the 
voice  of  truth  and  his  own  conscience. 

In   other   words,  my   friends,   only  a 
very  small  fraction  of  humanity  is  ever 
heard  from,  and  of  that  fraction  it  were 
148 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

well  if  a  good  part  had  gone  down  in 
silence.  The  great  mass  of  men,  and 
as  a  rule,  the  best  of  them,  simply  do 
their  work,  find  their  little  scrap  of  truth, 
live  their  faithful  life,  give  a  little  cheer 
to  their  comrades,  and  then  surrender 
the  whole  into  God's  hands  and  to  the 
service  of  those  who  come  after.  It 
sounds  little,  but  it  is  noble,  very  noble, 
to  become  a  living  stone  in  that  living 
temple  of  humanity ;  to  help  to  build  up 
man  into  the  glorious  ideal  which  God 
has  placed  before  him.  He  serves  pos- 
terity best  who  serves  his  own  genera- 
tion best.  And  the  ambition  of  the 
true  university  man  is  patient,  faithful, 
present,  silent  service. 

There  is  another  element  in  the  active 
life  of  to-day  which  needs  sorely  the 
spirit  of  a  true  university  man. 

This  is  an  age  of  material  success  and 
interest  in  physical  things.  I  need  not 
dwell  on  that,  for  you  know  it.  It  is 
also  an  age  in  which  democracy  has 
risen,  public  opinion  has  become  domi- 
nant, and  the  transmission  of  public 
opinion  has  been  made  easy.  These 
and  other  elements  have  emphasized  the 
149 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

power  of  circumstance,  of  heredity  and 
birth,  and  of  humanity  massed,  with  the 
result  that  from  the  depths  of  the  masses 
there  has  arisen  and  is  still  rising  a  vague 
and  popular  fatalism,  a  sense  that  man 
is  not  so  free  as  he  thought  himself,  a 
surrender  to  circumstance,  a  stolid  yield- 
ing to  fate,  or  an  angry  outburst  against 
present  conditions,  and,  worst  of  all,  a 
subtle  skepticism  as  to  the  worth  of 
character  and  the  power  of  spiritual 
forces.  There  is  that  unthinking  senti- 
ment that  things  are  made  so  and  they 
have  got  to  go  on  as  they  are.  Social 
evils  have  entered  our  communities,  and 
you  cannot  drive  them  out  ;  demoraliza- 
tion has  run  riot  in  city  politics,  and  what 
are  you  going  to  do  about  it .-'  Wealth 
is  going  to  bring  luxury,  and  luxury  will 
bring,  as  it  always  has  brought,  immo- 
rality ;  the  stream  will  then  be  down,  and 
who  can  stop  it  ?  How  familiar  all  this 
talk  is.  And  how  willingly  we  are 
tempted  to  acquiesce  in  it.  But  what 
has  this  to  do  with  the  relations  of  uni- 
versity to  active  life .-' 

The  university  is  a  home  of  spiritual 
forces  ;  it  deals  with  life  and  with  the 
history  of  life  ;  its  literature,  its  lectures, 
150 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

its  enthusiasms  are  in  spiritual  lines. 
Of  all  places  in  the  world  next  to  the 
church,  the  university  is  the  last  place  to 
weaken  faith  in  the  worth  of  character. 
The  history  of  civilization  is  the  history 
of  the  victorious  march  of  spiritual  forces, 
and  the  history  of  Christianity  takes 
its  spring  from  Him  who  was  of  all  men 
spiritual  and  perfect  in  character.  There- 
fore the  man  who  passes  through  the 
college  gate  to  the  problems  of  life  goes 
with  a  perfect  confidence  in  this,  that 
man  has  the  future  in  his  grasp,  that 
there  are  no  social  circumstances  or 
political  situations  or  moral  conditions 
which  if  rightly  met  will  not  yield  to 
the  spiritual  energy  of  man.  He  has  no 
patience  with  the  whine  that  because  an 
abuse  has  been,  therefore  it  must  be. 

Can  there  be  a  better  object  lesson  of 
the  power  of  the  spiritual  forces  of  man 
than  the  past  century  has  produced .'' 
We  call  it  the  age  of  materialism,  in- 
vention, and  physical  interest.  And  yet 
when  the  class  of  1791  assembled  to 
hear  their  baccalaureate  sermon,  think 
of  the  social  condition  of  Europe  and 
the  then  known  world  :  the  cry  of  human 
rights  heard  only  in  the  savage  voice  of 
151 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

the  Paris  mob  ;  the  people  of  Europe, 
from  Russia  to  "  Merry  England,"  prac- 
tically unrecognized  ;  this  country  still 
staggering  under  the  burdens  of  the 
Revolution  ;  the  great  continents  of  the 
East,  Japan,  China,  India,  Australia  and 
Africa,  in  heathenism  and  to  a  large 
degree  barbarism;  slavery  upheld  every- 
where as  an  institution  of  Christian 
civilization  ;  government  for  the  few  and 
by  the  few  ;  almost  nothing  of  that  spirit 
of  the  common  civic  and  social  interests 
of  all  classes  which  has  risen  so  rapidly 
in  the  last  twenty-five  years.  In  this 
century  the  surface  of  the  world  even 
has  been  changed  in  its  physical  fea- 
tures, and  the  character  and  thoughts  of 
the  people  who  inhabit  it  are  ennobled. 
What  has  wrought  this  change  ? 

Nature,  climate,  physical  conditions, 
circumstances,  inheritance  ?  They  have 
had  their  part.  But  what  has  moved 
them  and  harnessed  them  to  service  ? 
There  is  only  one  answer  —  man,  with 
his  unique  spiritual  force,  his  will,  his  in- 
tellect, his  creative  and  inventive  mind  ; 
men  touched  with  the  fire  of  divine  en- 
thusiasm for  humanity ;  men  working 
selfishly  for  their  own  gain,  used  by  God 
152 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

to  enrich  the  world ;  men  working  nobly 
for  others'  good,  the  servants  of  God  to 
uplift  their  brethren. 

There  have  been  leaders ;  their  names 
are  household  words.  But  there  have 
been  the  rank  and  file  of  kindred  spirits 
who  did  their  work  silently  and  died  as 
silently  as  they  lived.  There  are  the 
lives  of  those  whose  names  are  embla- 
zoned in  yonder  Memorial  Hall ;  and 
there  are  the  lives  of  those  whose  bodies 
lie  in  nameless  graves  on  Arlington 
Heights  and  under  the  sod  at  Gettys- 
burg. 

By  faith  in  God,  in  righteousness,  in 
liberty,  in  humanity,  these  men  lived. 
These  all  died  in  faith. 

While  these  facts  stand  and  these 
memories  last,  who  of  you  is  going  to 
yield  to  the  cowardly  word  that  things 
must  be  as  they  are,  and  that  move- 
ments and  tendencies  are  greater  than 
men  and  cannot  be  guided  and  created  .'' 
The  list  of  what  has  been  done  by  men 
suggests  what  man  has  yet  to  do,  and 
to  do  in  this  present  generation. 

You  know  what  it  is  ?  The  tremen- 
dous social  questions,  the  problems  of 
politics  and  economics,  of  national  in- 
153 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

tegrity  and  charity,  of  the  family,  of  the 
rights  of  property,  of  the  individual,  of 
purity  in  society,  of  commercial  honor. 
They  spring  to  mind  faster  than  we  can 
name  them.  These  things  are  not  going 
to  drift.  They  are  going  to  move,  and 
some  of  them  very  rapidly ;  and  some 
men  are  going  to  be  behind  the  move- 
ment, —  the  ignorant,  the  charlatan,  the 
selfish  and  the  immoral,  if  not  the  intel- 
ligent, the  honest,  the  unselfish  and  the 
pure. 

The  question  that  I  want  to  ask  you 
and  that  I  believe  you  are  asking  your- 
selves is,  what  part  are  you  going  to 
take  in  the  work .-'  Is  the  university 
spirit,  which  believes  above  all  things  in 
the  worth  of  character,  going  with  you 
into  the  activities  of  life  .''  You  will 
find  fellow-workers  of  intelligence  and 
strength  who  never  entered  a  college 
gate.  But  you  have  something  of  your 
own  and  of  your  college  life  and  oppor- 
tunities to  bring.  Carry  it  with  you, 
and  believe  in  all  humility  that  when  a 
man  is  wanted,  there  your  work  as  a 
man  can  be  done. 

Some  of  you  may  think  that  in  all 
this  I  have  hardly  touched  the  level  of 
154 


THE  UNIVERSITY  MAN  IN  ACTIVE  LIFE 

a  sermon,  for  religion  as  such  has  hardly 
been  mentioned.  On  the  contrary,  my 
words  have  failed  of  their  purpose  if 
they  have  not  been  interpreted  as  a  part 
of  religion.  I  know  of  no  better  way  of 
serving  God  than  that  of  taking  life  in 
its  larger,  wider  relations,  doing  your 
work  faithfully,  regardless  of  popular  ap- 
plause, and  confident  in  the  worth  of 
character.  He  who  so  lives  must  live 
in  the  spirit  of  Christ.  He  must  turn 
to  Him  for  his  ideal,  His  support,  and  His 
inspiration.  Christ  has  been  the  founda- 
tion of  all  that  has  been  good  in  the 
movements  of  the  past  century,  Christ 
must  be  at  the  foundation  of  every  ac- 
tion for  good  in  your  generation. 

This,  then,  is  my  last  word  to  you, 
men  of  the  class  of  '91  :  in  your  hopes 
and  disappointments,  in  your  successes 
and  defeats,  turn  to  Him  for  the  richest 
embodiment  of  manhood,  and  in  His  life 
rest  in  confidence. 

155 


X 

JESUS    IN    HIS    OWN    CITY  ^ 

"  And  he  could  there  do  no  mighty 
works,  save  that  he  laid  his  hands  upon 
a  few  sick  folk,  and  healed  them.  And 
he  marvelled  because  of  their  unbelief."  ^ 

For  the  second  time  since  He  had  en- 
tered on  his  public  ministry,  our  Lord 
was  in  the  town  where  He  had  passed 
the  most  of  his  life.  You  remember 
that  at  the  first  visit  the  jealousy  and 
wrath  of  his  former  playmates  and  neigh- 
bors drove  Him  from  Nazareth,  and 
came  near  casting  Him  headlong  down 
the  cliff  whereon  the  city  was  built. 
Since  that  day,  some  months  had  passed. 
His  miracles,  teachings,  and  character 
had  made  His  name  a  household  word  ; 
crowds  were  following  Him,  and  He  had 
given  every  assurance  that  faith  in  Him 
strengthens  and  revivifies  the  life  as  well 
as  the  limbs  of  men. 

^  St.  John's  Memorial  Chapel,  Cambridge,  Febru- 
ary 19,  1 888.  2  Mark  vi.  5,  6. 


JESUS   IN   HIS   OWN   CITY 

When,  therefore,  the  Saviour,  on  one 
of  his  missionary  journeys,  again  passed 
through  Nazareth,  He  had  a  right  to 
expect  that  His  fellow-townsmen,  regret- 
ting their  former  conduct,  would  give 
Him  a  sympathetic  reception.  And  a 
first  glance  through  the  village  street 
seemed  to  assure  Him  of  it.  Out  from 
the  houses  were  being  brought  the  sick, 
the  lame,  and  the  blind.  Up  the  hill 
from  the  surrounding  country  were  to  be 
seen  groups  of  men  and  women  helping 
the  crippled  and  paralyzed  to  a  nearer 
touch  of  the  great  healer.  As  He  taught 
in  the  synagogue,  the  crowd  pressed  in. 
But  as  He  came  forth,  with  hands  of 
healing  uplifted,  and  with  every  inten- 
tion of  pouring  out  his  life-giving  powers 
upon  those  with  whom  He  had  played  in 
childhood,  or  as  a  boy  had  watched  while 
they  crept  through  the  town.  He  was 
mysteriously  checked ;  a  quick  change 
crossed  His  face  ;  sorrow  took  the  place 
of  hope.  The  lines  of  anguish,  which 
were  destined  to  become  deeper  as  the 
months  went  by,  were  seen  by  the  peo- 
ple. His  hands  fell  helpless.  With  the 
exception  of  three  or  four  sick  people 
who  were  strengthened,  there  was  no 
157 


JESUS   IN   HIS   OWN   CITY 

sign  of  miraculous  work.  Tlie  cord  of 
spiritual  sympathy  between  Him  and  the 
others  seemed  suddenly  to  have  snapped, 
and  He  was  powerless  to  cure.  "  He 
could  there  do  no  mighty  work,  save  that 
he  laid  his  hands  upon  a  few  sick  folk." 

What  was  it  that  caused  the  fatal 
break  ?  The  Saviour  certainly  appeared 
to  be  ready  and  anxious  to  act.  And  the 
townspeople,  —  it  could  not  be  that  any 
fault  of  theirs  should  throw  away  this 
opportunity.  Never  had  Nazareth  or 
any  other  city  such  a  chance  for  gaining 
health  of  body  and  renewal  of  spiritual 
life.  The  only  explanation  we  have  is 
that  given  by  St.  Mark,  "  And  He  mar- 
velled because  of  their  unbelief."  The 
trouble,  then,  was  with  them  and  not  with 
Him.  He  who  could  still  the  waves  in 
the  tempest  and  raise  the  dead  depended 
for  the  exercise  of  His  power  upon  the 
faith,  the  sympathy,  the  belief  of  men. 

Whether,  with  one  commentator,  you 
say  that  their  unbelief  made  it  physically 
impossible  for  Him  to  heal  the  others ; 
or,  with  another  commentator,  you  think 
that  His  miraculous  power  was  still  there, 
but  that  He  could  not  consistently  use  it 
while  the  people  remained  in  unbelief, 
158 


JESUS   IN   HIS   OWN   CITY 

the  result  is  the  same.  The  fact  remains 
that  He  could  not  and  did  not  do  mighty 
works,  because  of  their  unbelief.  Mat- 
thew says  He  did  not,  Mark  says  He 
could  not.  The  unbelief  of  a  few  ordi- 
nary men  and  women  in  Nazareth 
checked  the  mighty  works  of  Christ. 

First,  as  to  that  word,  unbelief.  Of 
course  it  had  not  the  formal  definition 
which  often  clings  to  it  now.  Their  dif- 
ficulty was  not  a  disbelief  in  some  formal 
creed  about  Christ,  nor  in  any  definite 
religious  dogmas.  It  was  not  so  much 
an  intellectual  condition  as  a  moral  and 
spiritual  want.  They  had  no  confidence 
in  Him  as  anything  more  than  a  mere 
miracle  worker  ;  they  hardly  had  that. 
They  had  no  sympathy  with  the  aims  and 
principles  of  His  life.  They  cared  not 
for  His  work  of  bringing  love  and  good- 
ness and  justice  into  Nazareth.  Their 
hearts  were  wholly  out  of  tune  with  His. 
They  were  Nazarenes,  and  He  once  lived, 
the  son  of  a  carpenter,  in  Nazareth  ;  and 
that  was  the  only  point  of  contact  be- 
tween them.  When  Jesus  would  carry 
them  to  higher  truths  and  a  purer  life, 
that  point  of  contact  was  broken.  They 
had  no  faith  in  Him  as  the  perfect  man, 
159 


JESUS   IN   HIS   OWN   CITY 

the  Messiah,  or  the  Revelation  of  their 
God.  And  the  want  of  that,  as  we  have 
seen,  checked  the  mighty  works. 

Here,  then,  we  have  an  instance  of 
that  mysterious  but  undeniable  fact  that 
God,  in  giving  man  his  power  to  act 
freely  and  to  have  a  will  of  his  own,  and 
thus  to  choose  for  the  right  and  help  on 
the  work  of  God,  also  gave  him  the 
power  to  choose  for  the  wrong  and  check 
and  block  and  destroy  the  work  of  God. 
He  gave  the  highest  possible  blessing, 
and  the  deepest  possible  degradation. 

In  this  incident,  therefore,  we  have 
our  thought  for  this  morning,  the  power 
in  men  to  check  and  to  help  the  great 
works  of  God. 

In  thinking  and  talking  over  our  ef- 
forts to  do  what  is  right,  and  to  seek  and 
find  the  truth,  we  very  often  take  it  for 
granted  that  the  struggle  is  all  on  our 
side.  I  think  that  we  sometimes  give 
ourselves  and  others  the  impression  that 
every  scrap  of  truth  and  light  has  got  to 
be  fought  for.  Some  persons  talk  as  if 
God  were  somehow  rather  parsimonious 
and  niggardly  in  His  bounty,  as  if,  in  or- 
der to  snatch  fire  from  heaven,  one  must 
i6o 


JESUS   IN   HIS   OWN   CITY 

run  great  risks,  and  in  order  to  open 
the  gates  to  eternal  light,  ever  so  small  a 
crack,  one  must  give  a  strong  and  a  long 
pull.  Of  course  there  is  a  phase  of  truth 
here  ;  man  must  struggle  for  the  truth  ; 
but  not  because  God  holds  it  like  a  miser. 
The  Christian,  and  not  the  pagan  idea  is 
that  God  is  Light,  and  like  the  great 
Light,  He  is  shining  and  pressing  into 
every  nook  and  cranny  of  the  world,  into 
every  house  where  the  windows  are 
thrown  open  to  His  warmth  and  radiance, 
into  every  eye  that  is  not  closed  against 
His  rays.  "  I  am  the  Light  of  the 
world."  "  In  him  was  life,  and  the  life 
was  the  light  of  men."  The  difficulty  is 
not  with  Him,  but  with  men,  who  do  not 
realize  the  fact  of  the  Light,  nor  their 
need  of  it ;  who  will  not  throw  open  the 
windows  of  their  hearts  nor  make  an 
effort  to  open  their  closed  eyes.  "  The 
light  shineth  in  darkness,  and  the  dark- 
ness comprehendeth  it  not."  Men  do 
not  believe  in  Him,  and  therefore  abide 
in  darkness.  "  He  that  doeth  evil  hateth 
the  light." 

I  know  this  is  all  familiar,  but  I  also 
believe  that  its  truth  is  not  enough  felt. 

The  father  of  the  Prodigal  has  not 
i6i 


JESUS   IN   HIS   OWN   CITY 

shut  the  door  which  the  returning  son 
must  burst  before  he  can  get  in ;  but 
the  father  waits  with  open  arms  at  the 
open  door.  And  the  only  thing  that 
prevents  the  Prodigal's  return  is  the 
struggle  with  his  own  pride  and  heart- 
lessness.  The  one  thing,  therefore,  that 
prevents  the  whole  world  to-day  from 
being  suffused  and  filled  with  the  light 
and  life  of  Christ,  with  purity,  love,  and 
justice,  is  that  the  world  does  not  want 
to  be  filled  with  light  and  life.  Man 
has  that  enormous  power  to  refuse  light, 
and  he  uses  it.  **  Ye  will  not  come 
unto  me  that  ye  might  have  life." 

I  want,  however,  to  bring  the  truth 
into  closer  relations  with  our  own  life 
and  thought  here  and  to-day. 

We  all  have  our  social  ideal,  our  ex- 
pectations of  a  purified  society,  a  Plato's 
Republic  or  a  Christian  millennium ;  a 
day  when  the  wolf  shall  lie  down  with 
the  lamb  ;  when  all  men  will  be  just  and 
true  and  merciful.  If  God  is  the  Al- 
mighty, why  cannot  He  bring  it  about .'' 
We  have  just  seen,  —  because  men,  be- 
cause we,  much  as  we  dream  and  idealize 
about  it,  do  not  want  it  brought  about. 
162 


JESUS   IN   HIS    OWN   CITY 

The  key  is  in  our  own  hands.  Nazareth 
cannot  be  uplifted  because  the  Naza- 
renes  have  no  sympathy  with  Him  who 
would  uplift.  His  arms  drop  powerless. 
That  there  has  been  a  steady  move- 
ment since  Christ's  day  towards  a 
stronger  sympathy  with  the  principles  of 
His  life,  no  honest  student,  believer  or 
unbeliever,  can  doubt.  Men  have  caught 
scraps  and  rays  of  light.  The  darkness 
is  not  so  deep  now  as  in  Herod's  day,  or 
in  the  palmy  days  of  Greece  and  Rome. 
The  cry  for  justice,  purity,  and  truth 
meets  with  a  heartier  response  from  the 
whole  people  in  this  century  than  ever 
before.  And  yet  that  there  is  an  almost 
universal  skepticism  of  the  possibility  of 
perfect  justice,  purity,  and  truth,  I  think 
no  one  can  deny.  Here  and  there,  on 
mountain  peaks  of  character,  are  seers 
and  believers.  But  the  mass  of  men  are 
not  expectant  of  mighty  spiritual  works. 
They  do  not  believe  that  Christ  or  Chris- 
tian truth  can  lift  men  up  to  high  levels 
of  character.  Men  are  not  all  pessimists, 
far  from  that  ;  but  even  the  best  of  them 
hesitate  when  they  begin  to  talk  of  the 
higher  and  nobler  realms  of  life  as  being 
possible  in  society  to-day.  Jesus  is  in 
163 


JESUS   IN   HIS   OWN   CITY 

our  Nazareth  ;  and  we  agree  that  He  can 
heal  a  few  sick  folk.  His  power  can 
leaven  society  to  a  certain  degree ;  it 
can  touch  the  respectable  and  give  com- 
fort to  sick  and  weary  souls  ;  it  can  de- 
velop the  child  life  and  build  a  few  hos- 
pitals and  orphans'  homes.  But  that  it 
can  go  down  into  the  lowest  dregs  of 
society  and  take  the  drunkards  and  the 
harlots  and  reform  and  purify  them  ;  that 
it  can  make  business  in  every  way  sensi- 
tive to  the  least  suspicion  of  dishonesty ; 
that  it  can  eliminate  scandal  from  soci- 
ety and  filth  from  the  papers,  and  make 
our  men  and  women  and  children  of 
every  class  true  and  pure  and  Christlike  ! 
Never.  And  content  with  that,  we  set- 
tle down  to  congratulate  ourselves  that 
at  all  events  a  few  sick  folk  have  got  the 
benefit  of  His  work. 

The  Nazareth  of  modern  society  will 
not  be  healed,  because,  much  as  we  talk 
about  reform  and  all  that,  modern  society 
does  not  believe  it  can  be  healed. 

Let  me  illustrate  the  thought  by  a 
conversation  which  I  heard  some  two 
months  ago. 

A  gentleman  of  great  intelligence  and 
high  standing  in  the  city  in  which  he 
164 


JESUS   IN   HIS   OWN   CITY 

lives,  in  conversing  about  the  use  and 
abuse  of  wine,  happened  incidentally  to 
say  that  the  career  of  so-called  reformed 
drunkards  and  the  history  of  efforts  to 
reclaim  them  showed  conclusively  that  if 
a  man  once  became  a  drunkard,  there 
was  no  hope  for  him,  and  the  sooner  he 
drank  himself  to  death  the  better  for 
him  and  his  friends. 

In  a  few  moments  the  conversation 
turned  upon  prominent  men  in  the  New 
York  stock-market,  and  a  New  York 
gentleman,  naming  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful in  speculation,  said,  "  When  I 
first  knew  him  as  a  young  man  he  was  a 
drunkard  in  the  gutter,  and  not  worth 
a  cent."  Here,  then,  on  the  moment, 
was  an  instance  from  life  that  showed 
that,  with  a  motive  strong  enough  and 
favorable  circumstances,  the  drunkard 
can  be  and  is  reformed.  And  yet  you 
can  hear  the  opinion  of  the  first  man 
expressed  every  day  in  society.  The 
truth  is  that  drunkards  are  reformed, 
only  a  fraction  of  them  —  a  few  sick 
folk  —  but  it  is  this  skepticism  in  the 
community  which  prevents  a  larger  ref- 
ormation. How  can  you  expect  a  man 
who  through  drink  has  weakened  his 
165 


JESUS   IN   HIS   OWN   CITY 

moral  fibre  and  will  power,  and  who  has 
lost  his  self-respect,  to  fight  against  such 
a  popular  prejudice,  such  a  depression  of 
the  atmosphere  of  opinion,  and  at  the 
same  time  fight  his  passion  for  drink  ? 
But  let  the  poor  drunkard  who  to-morrow 
morning  will  be  released  from  the  county 
jail  be  met  with  the  popular  conviction 
that  there  is  hope  for  him,  let  that  con- 
viction find  its  expression  in  the  friendly 
counsel  and  aid  of  those  of  his  own  social 
class,  let  him  be  surrounded  by  favora- 
ble circumstances,  and  be  inspired  with 
the  strongest  motives  of  hope,  ambition, 
self-respect,  aye,  of  a  Christian  and 
manly  life,  and  popular  belief  will  cast 
aside  the  obstacle  which  popular  unbe- 
lief places  in  his  way.  The  hands  of 
Jesus  will  then  do  mighty  works. 

I  only  mention  this  instance  because 
it  is  an  illustration  that  is  easily  grasped, 
and  suggests  one  of  the  most  difficult  of 
works. 

Social  life  is  so  intricate,  and  the  sins 
and  weakness  and  low  ideas  and  preju- 
dices of  men  are  so  interwoven  with  each 
other,  that  one  cannot  suggest  a  possible 
reform  or  purification  in  one  line  without 
coming  upon  many  others. 
i66 


JESUS   IN   HIS   OWN   CITY 

Each  man  may  have  his  hobby  of 
where  the  work  of  healing  should  begin 
(and  it  is  well  that  every  man  should 
have  such  a  hobby) ;  one  may  press  for 
political  reform,  and  another  for  honesty 
in  business,  and  another  for  the  eradica- 
tion of  social  vices,  and  another  for  the 
elevation  of  the  home  ;  but  the  one  thing 
that  all  must  have  is  faith  that  the 
power  of  Christ  can  effect  the  work. 
Here,  my  friends,  is  the  crucial  point. 
You  believe  that  if  men  would  only  turn 
decidedly  to  the  effort  of  making  the 
power  of  Christ  felt,  an  immense  work 
would  be  done.  You  recall  one  man 
here  and  there  in  history  who  has  led 
a  movement  against  some  accepted  but 
well  recognized  social  sin,  a  Telemachus, 
a  Savonarola,  a  Wilberforce.  You  can 
name  men  to-day  who  are  moulding 
popular  opinion  and  leading  movements 
in  favor  of  truth  or  purity  in  some  line 
of  society,  or  some  missionary  who  in 
breaking  through  the  darkness  of  the 
Dark  Continent  has  given  up  his  life  for 
the  savages,  and  you  give  them  your  ap- 
plause, your  sympathy,  and  possibly  a  lit- 
tle of  your  spare  cash.  But,  my  friends, 
they  want,  and  their  cause  wants,  some- 
167 


JESUS   IN   HIS   OWN   CITY 

thing  more  than  that.  Their  ideal  and 
ours  is  that  there  shall  be  perfect  right- 
eousness. That  the  poor  will  be  helped 
and  elevated .-'  Yes,  but  that  the  poor 
will  be  pure  and  Christlike  in  character, 
and  that  the  rich  will  be  the  same,  and 
that  all  the  mass  of  men  between  them 
will  be  sensitive  to  the  slightest  taint 
of  impurity,  or  untruthfulness,  or  injus- 
tice ;  that  each  and  all  will  be  full  of  the 
spirit  of  sacrifice  in  little  as  well  as  great 
things.  The  call,  then,  of  to-day  is  for 
a  study  at  home,  a  search  into  our  own 
hearts  and  lives. 

In  short,  "  Are  your  minds  set  upon 
righteousness,"  O  ye  congregation  .-'  Are 
we  living  now  just  as  if  that  ideal  life 
for  which  we  long  were  here  .''  Is  every 
word  and  deed  spoken  and  done  as  if  in 
the  sight  of  God  .-'  Is  every  sale  made 
and  every  bargain  closed  with  the  sense 
that  there  is  not  the  suspicion  of  deceit 
or  dishonor  in  it.-*  Is  the  selection  of 
your  reading  according  to  the  truest  line 
of  purity  and  ennobling  thought  ?  Are 
your  associations  such  as  suggest  what 
is  most  manly  and  refined  .-'  Is  there  no 
yielding  to  the  popular  pressure  that  you 
cannot  expect  too  much  of  a  man  in  the 
1 68 


JESUS   IN   HIS   OWN   CITY 

way  of  purity  and  abstinence  from  doubt- 
ful or  evil  habits  ?  You  are  honest,  but 
are  you  generous  in  money,  in  deeds  ? 
but,  more  than  that,  in  your  estimate  of 
others'  motives  and  conduct  ?  You  are 
of  a  kindly  disposition,  but  is  there  a 
spirit  of  real  self-sacrifice,  of  doing  read- 
ily what  you  hate  to  do,  but  what  you 
ought  to  do  for  others'  comfort  ? 

Are  your  minds  set  upon  righteous- 
ness ? 

It  is  a  tremendous  demand,  but  an  en- 
nobling one,  that  of  throwing  not  only 
our  applause  and  sympathy,  but  our- 
selves, every  wish,  taste,  and  ambition, 
into  the  clearing  the  way  for  the  coming 
of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  and  of  liv- 
ing every  day  in  that  light. 

No  man  can  do  it  alone,  not  even 
with  the  support  of  those  about  him, 
unless  he  has  the  inspiration  from  the 
thought  of  those  words,  *'  we  then  as 
workers  with  Him,"  The  poor,  sick 
peasant  on  the  street  in  Nazareth,  who 
believed  in  spite  of  the  popular  unbelief, 
realized  that  he  was  not  his  own  healer, 
but  that  Christ,  who  was  the  healer  then 
and  there,  had  the  power  to  lift  him  into 
higher  realms  of  character  and  faith. 
169 


JESUS   IN   HIS   OWN   CITY 

The  peasant  did  not  work  alone,  and 
Jesus  did  not  work  alone.  They  were 
fellow  workers,  and  with  common  sym- 
pathy their  work  was  unlimited  in  its 
possibilities.  Given  God  and  one  man 
of  faith,  and  you  have  a  legion  of  the 
redeemed  in  sight. 

There  is  another  phase  of  our  thought 
which  I  have  time  to  do  little  more  than 
suggest. 

"  This  is  all  true,"  I  hear  you  say  ;  "  I 
have  not  had  that  faith  in  the  possible 
supremacy  of  all  that  is  right  and  true 
which  I  ought  to  have  had.  I  will  make 
a  stronger  effort  in  the  future  to  tone  up 
my  faith  in  Christ,  to  make  my  life  con- 
form more  nearly  to  my  ideal  of  social 
rectitude.  But  this  surely  is  not  all  that 
the  Christian  religion  asks .-'  Nothing 
has  been  said  by  you  of  holiness  and 
the  saintly  life.  Fortunately,  however, 
for  true  and  righteous  as  I  hope  to  be,  I 
have  nothing  of  the  saint  in  my  make-up  ; 
real  holiness  must  be  left  to  others ; 
there  is  no  power  that  can  make  a  spir- 
itually-minded man  out  of  me."    . 

No  power .-"  no  possibility  of  saintli- 
ness .''  It  cannot  be  that  Jesus,  who  calls 
170 


JESUS   IN   HIS    OWN   CITY 

all  men  to  Him,  and  exhorts  all  to  be 
perfect  as  His  Father  in  Heaven  is  per- 
fect, gives  that  invitation  with  the  silent 
reserve  that  for  the  majority  of  men  the 
words  have  no  possible  application. 

Here  again  is  the  same  unbelief  of 
the  Nazarenes.  You  say  that  Jesus  can 
bring  an  average  man  to  average  moral- 
ity;  He  may  lift  you  to  a  higher  degree 
of  character  than  some  of  your  neigh- 
bors, but  such  a  mighty  work  as  that  of 
creating  a  saintly  character  out  of  you  is 
out  of  the  question.  Is  the  trouble  with 
Him  ?  Or  is  it  not  rather  in  yourself, 
that  you  do  not  really  want,  as  your  high- 
est wish,  that  saintly  form  of  character  ? 

First,  adjust  your  idea  of  the  saint ;  cut 
out  from  your  definition  all  that  is  arti- 
ficially pious,  all  that  is  weak  sentiment 
and  lean  and  hungry  in  look,  and  realize 
and  insist  on  the  realization  that  the 
true  saint  is  simply  the  man  developed 
in  all  his  features  to  the  highest  perfec- 
tion ;  with  all  his  powers,  spiritual,  moral, 
intellectual,  and  even  physical,  brought 
into  the  fullest  play  —  that  he  is  above 
all  else  and  in  everything,  a  man  :  and 
that  the  saintly  woman  is  the  one  in 
whom  are  developed  in  their  rarest  form 
171 


JESUS   IN   HIS   OWN   CITY 

all  the  graces  and  beauties  of  the  womanly 
character.  Think  of  these  as  in  truth 
the  ideal  saints.  And  can  you  picture 
any  nobler  end  for  yourself  and  your 
life's  ambition  than  to  be  a  saint .'' 

Having  that  hope  firmly  in  your  grasp, 
now  throw  open  all  the  windows  of  your 
soul  to  the  influence  of  Jesus.  By 
prayer,  thought  and  action,  let  His  di- 
vine power  move  in  and  through  your 
life  ;  and  be  sure  that  a  mighty  work  is 
within  His  power  and  your  possibility. 
Not  that  of  lifting  you  into  ordinary 
spiritual  vitality,  but  of  transforming  you 
through  and  through  with  His  Spirit. 
Believe  it  of  yourself,  believe  in  its  pos- 
sibility for  others  ;  let  this  congregation 
believe  it  and  live  as  if  they  believed  it ; 
and  the  spiritual  lift  and  common  sym- 
pathy in  a  noble  hope  would  carry  us 
higher  and  higher  in  the  Christlike  life, 
and  move  the  ambitions  of  the  whole 
community.  Take  no  ideal  but  the 
highest.  Be  content  with  no  possibility 
less  than  the  noblest  sainthood.  And 
men  will  cease  to  question  the  power  of 
Christianity,  and  will  join  us  in  follow- 
ing Him  who  is  the  inspirer  and  com- 
forter of  all  saints,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
172 


XI 

HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS  ^ 

"For  our  conversation"  (or,  as  the 
Revised  Version  more  correctly  puts  it, 
"  for  our  citizenship  ")  "  is  in  heaven,"  ^ 

One  of  the  calls  of  Ascension  Day  is 
to  heavenly-mindedness,  and  to  that  call 
we  respond  this  morning. 

As  I  speak  these  words,  I  can  feel 
some  of  you  sink  back  in  your  seats  with 
the  listless  air,  "  Now  the  preacher  is  go- 
ing to  soar  away  into  some  sentimental, 
unpractical  sphere  of  thought,  apart  from 
our  daily  life  and  interests." 

And  I  cannot  but  confess  that  there  is 
some  reason  for  the  listless  air.  For,  as 
we  speak  of  a  heavenly-minded  man,  it 
does  suggest  something  a  little  over-sen- 
timental and  unreal,  or  at  least  unsympa- 
thetic with  our  common  interests. 

^  St.  John's  Memorial  Chapel,  Cambridge,  Ascen- 
sion Day,  1892. 
^  Philippians  iii.  20. 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

If  the  popular  theology  is  that  heaven 
and  God  and  the  ascended  Christ  are  up 
there,  —  away  up,  —  and  that  the  world, 
and  men,  and  human  interests  are  down 
here  ;  then,  of  course,  the  man  who  is 
heavenly-minded  has  his  thoughts  and 
interests  up  there,  and  not  down  here. 
He  is  above  the  common  interests  of  life, 
and  therefore  very  uninteresting  to  those 
every-day  people  who  have  the  common 
interests  of  life  at  heart.  And  he  floats 
sublimely  through  life,  eating  the  food 
and  living  on  the  earnings  of  the  com- 
mon people,  who  partly  admire  him  and 
partly  simply  endure  him. 

No  matter  what  the  age  or  the  theo- 
logy, this  form  of  heavenly-mindedness 
will  be  found,  —  sometimes  stern  and 
hard,  sometimes  placid  and  benevolent, 
sometimes  simply  passive  ;  but  always 
lifted  above  the  common  herd  of  men. 
After  all,  there  is  something  attractive 
to  us  who  are  sin-laden  and  overwhelmed 
with  earthly  interests,  in  the  thought 
that  there  are  a  few  choice  souls  in  the 
world  who  are  entirely  oblivious  to  what 
absorbs  and  enslaves  us. 

And  yet,  is  this  heavenly-mindedness  ? 
Is  this  what  we  pray  for  in  the  Col- 
174 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

lect  to-day,  when  we  ask  that  as  Christ 
"ascended  into  the  heavens,  so  we  may 
also  in  heart  and  mind  thither  ascend  ?  " 
Is  it  a  supplication  for  a  few  choice 
spirits,  a  spiritual  aristocracy  ?  Or  is 
it  not  rather  a  universal  prayer,  that 
we,  common  men  and  women,  who  have 
got  to  earn  our  living,  take  care  of  our 
homes,  look  after  our  business,  and  take 
our  part  in  all  the  activities  of  life,  may 
in  heart  and  mind  thither  ascend  ? 

Do  not  be  deceived  by  the  glamour  of 
the  heavenly  uplook  of  the  mystic.  He 
may,  too,  be  heavenly-minded,  but  if 
there  is  any  reality  to  the  prayer,  and  to 
the  ascension  truth,  it  is  for  all  men.  If 
I  could  say  no  other  word  or  suggest  no 
other  thought  than  this,  I  would  urge 
one  thing,  that  to  be  heavenly-minded 
lies  within  the  possibility  of  every  man, 
and  that  only  by  becoming  such  can  one 
be  a  full  man. 

It  may  be,  then,  that  we  shall  have  to 
first  reconstruct  our  theology  a  little,  or 
at  least  change  the  emphasis  of  the  dif- 
ferent terms  somewhat. 

God  is  up  there,  of  course  ;  but  surely 
God  is  down  here  as  well,  "for  in  Him 
we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being." 
175 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

Jesus  is  up  there  ;  but  He,  too,  is  cer- 
tainly here  with  us.  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you 
alway." 

Heaven  is  up  there.  May  it  not  be 
also  that  heaven  is  down  here  ?  In  other 
words,  should  the  emphasis  be  so  strong 
upon  the  point  of  locality  as  upon  the 
point  of  condition  .''  not  where  God  is, 
but  what  He  is  ;  not  where  you  are  now, 
or  hereafter,  but  what  you  are. 

And  if  this  is  so,  may  it  not  be  that  a 
heavenly-minded  man  is  one  who,  living 
here  in  this  town,  is  one  who  in  char- 
acter and  life  is  in  sympathy  with  the 
essential  character  and  life  of  heaven  ? 

The  American  citizen  hails  from  a  cer- 
tain part  of  the  world,  from  America; 
but  the  difference  between  him  and  a 
French  citizen  is  not  only  that  of  locality 
but  that  of  character  ;  and  wherever  the 
American  may  be,  he  has  the  character- 
istics of  the  American  citizen. 

The  heavenly  citizenship  far  more 
is  a  citizenship  of  a  certain  character. 
What  that  character  is  can  only  be 
learned  by  a  study  of  what  the  essentials 
of  heaven  are. 

This,  then,  is  what  I  should  like  to  call 
your  thoughts  to  this  morning ;  to  two 
176 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

or  three  of  the  essentials  of  heaven,  and 
therefore  of  heavenly-mindedness. 

What  is  the  one  feature  that  stands 
out  in  all  our  minds  and  in  the  yearnings 
of  the  human  heart,  as  well  as  in  the 
Christian  revelation,  as  the  essential  ele- 
ment of  heaven  ?  Not  streets  of  gold, 
or  harps,  or  thrones,  or  even  the  innumer- 
able company  ;  but  the  presence  of  God 
Himself.  Without  Him,  heaven  would 
be  no  heaven.  With  Him,  heaven  is,  not 
first  a  locality,  but  wherever  one  is  in  His 
presence,  there  is  the  heavenly  life.  Not 
heaven  in  its  fulness  ;  but  the  first  ele- 
ments of  the  heavenly  life.  In  entering, 
then,  into  His  presence  here  and  now, 
amidst  our  daily  common  interests,  we 
have  entered  into  a  spiritual  kingdom, 
where,  so  far  as  we  live  in  sympathy 
with  it,  there  is  perfect  spiritual  har- 
mony, where  there  is  no  law  of  compul- 
sion ;  but  the  perfect  service  is  the  per- 
fect freedom ;  where  the  will  of  the  one 
great  loving  Spirit  is  evidently  so  rea- 
sonable, so  just,  and  so  true,  that  any 
one  who  is  in  sympathy  with  the  heavenly 
life  acts  in  harmony  with  it  as  if  it  were 
his  own  will. 

177 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

Does  this  seem  mystical  ?  as  if  we 
were,  in  spite  of  ourselves,  falling  into 
the  partial  definition  that  we  have  dis- 
carded ? 

Then  let  us  remember  the  other  side. 
God  in  the  Incarnation  has  made  Him- 
self one  with  man.  All  created  things 
have  their  relation  to  Him.  "  The  whole 
creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain 
until  now."  The  thought  is  not,  then, 
the  Spirit  of  God  opposed  to  or  con- 
trasted with  the  things  of  creation  ;  but 
the  Spirit  of  God  as  moving  within,  as 
embodied  in  the  bodies  of  men,  as  suf- 
fusing and  glorifying  the  whole  of  nature 
and  of  all  the  things  that  are  associated 
with  our  daily  life. 

If,  then,  a  man  has  within  him  the 
Spirit  of  God,  that  very  fact  will  send 
him  with  the  utmost  intensity  into  the 
interests  of  men.  He  will  move  among 
them,  and  live  among  them,  for  they  are 
his  interests.  He  is  in  its  true  sense 
a  man  of  affairs,  a  man  of  the  world,  if 
you  will  not  misconstrue  the  phrase,  and 
yet  he  is  also  a  man  of  God.  Now,  I 
think  we  are  in  a  position  to  test  the 
heavenly-minded  man  by  a  contrast. 

Worldly-mindedness,  we  are  all  agreed, 
178 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

is  a  very  imminent  danger  to  the  young 
lives  of  to-day.  Ay,  I  am  not  sure  that 
it  is  not  a  greater  danger  to  those  of 
middle  age.  The  young  are  sometimes 
saved  by  their  early  ideals,  their  romantic 
aspirations  and  their  first  noble  enthusi- 
asms. But  for  the  dull,  respectable,  sor- 
did, worldly  business  man  who  thinks 
business  and  talks  business,  and  is  no- 
thing but  business  and  money  -  getting 
for  seven  days  in  the  week,  or  for  the 
worldly  woman  who  thinks  and  talks  of 
clothes  and  shopping,  one  wonders  if 
there  is  any  salvation.  They  certainly 
do  not  seem  to  care  for  it  even  if  it  hangs 
within  their  grasp. 

The  worldly-minded  man  or  woman  is 
the  one  in  whom  the  things  of  this 
world,  the  houses  and  horses,  the  dresses 
and  food,  the  business  and  sports  are  the 
only  things  to  be  considered.  Poverty 
presses  a  man  into  this  spirit  as  well  as 
wealth.  The  materialism  which  this  a^e 
has  to  fear  is  not  in  the  studies  of  the 
philosophers  so  much  as  it  is  in  the 
avenues  and  the  alleys  of  our  cities,  where 
the  final  test  of  value  is  what  it  cost  or 
what  it  will  bring  in  money  or  in  social 
position. 

179 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

Now,  among  these  great  masses  of  peo- 
ple of  the  world  are  of  course  all  shades 
of  worldliness,  but  the  essential  feature 
is  that  the  supreme  interests  are  in  things 
and  people,  and  especially  in  themselves. 

But  on  the  other  hand,  one  has  mis- 
judged modern  life  if  he  has  found  only 
these.  In  the  midst  of  the  world,  in- 
tensely interested  in  the  things  of  the 
world,  in  business,  in  people,  in  social 
life,  there  are  some  men  and  women  who 
impress  us  as  if  we  had  moved  into  an- 
other atmosphere.  We  feel  that  behind 
their  present  interests  are  deeper  inter- 
ests which  guide  their  present  action ; 
there  is  a  self-restraint  to  their  world- 
spirit,  an  evident  appeal  in  certain  crises 
to  another  and  a  higher  standard  ;  there 
is  an  humble  estimate  of  self  which  at- 
tracts us  beside  the  vulgar  esteem  of  the 
worldly  man.  And  in  time  we  learn 
that  God,  not  first  as  a  dogma  or  as  a 
symbol  of  fashionable  religion,  but  God, 
the  Spirit  of  God,  dwells  in  the  heart 
and  rules  in  the  life.  Reverence,  humil- 
ity, awe,  devotion,  worship,  which  are  as 
essential  to  true  and  full  manhood  as 
even  honesty  in  business  or  truthfulness 
in  word,  have  their  part  in  such  a  man's 
i8o 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

make-up.  He  is  refined  in  his  tone,  sen- 
sitive, and  yet  always  open  and  manly ; 
and  we  are  attracted.  But  wherein  lies 
the  contrast  between  him  and  the  worldly 
or  the  vulgar  ?  Is  it  not  simply  in  this, 
that  in  the  depth  of  his  life,  he  is  a  hea- 
venly-minded man  ;  he  has  the  essential 
feature  of  heaven,  the  presence  of  God 
in  his  life  ? 

Is  there  anything  artificial  or  unreal 
in  this?  I  appeal  to  you  who  instinc- 
tively shrink  from  heavenly-mindedness 
as  if  it  were  unpractical  or  over-strained. 
As  compared  with  the  merely  worldly 
man,  is  he  not  the  nobler,  the  more  at- 
tractive man  of  the  two  ?  Is  he  not  the 
one  to  whose  judgment  you  will  finally 
appeal  ? 

Some  of  us,  however,  may  not  be 
wholly  satisfied  with  this.  Let  us  go  a 
step  further  and  touch  the  second  heav- 
enly characteristic.  "  The  presence  of 
God  in  the  man's  life,"  —  what  does  that 
mean  ?  We  have  met  men  and  women 
who  claimed  that  God  was  with  them, 
and  who  were  as  vulgar  and  worldly  as 
any  one.  We  have  seen  those  who  have 
been  most  reverent,  most  religious,  be- 
i8i 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

come  dishonest  and  impure  under  the 
stress  of  temptation  which  the  worldly 
man  has  withstood. 

Have  we,  then,  an  adequate  concep- 
tion of  God  ?  Surely  He  is  more  than  a 
spiritual  claim,  and  more  than  a  spiritual 
feeling.  He  is  a  spiritual  personality,  a 
character,  aye,  rather  the  character  above 
all  others.  Righteousness,  purity,  truth, 
sacrifice,  find  their  perfect  embodiment 
in  Him.  Therefore,  the  presence  of 
God  means  the  presence  of  all  that  goes 
to  make  up  the  highest  in  character. 

"Who  shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of 
the  Lord }  Even  he  that  hath  clean 
hands  and  a  pure  heart,  who  hath  not 
lifted  up  his  soul  unto  vanity,  nor  sworn 
deceitfully."  This  is  the  Ascension  Day 
Psalm. 

It  is  very  strange  that  with  the  Scrip- 
tures in  our  houses,  and  even  in  our 
hands,  any  man  could  have  defined  the 
presence  of  God  in  the  heart  as  possi- 
ble without  the  presence  of  the  right- 
eousness that  is  God. 

Wherever,  then,  you  find  righteous- 
ness, purity,  truth,  sacrifice,  any  of  the 
elements  which  really  belong  in  heaven, 
there  you  may  be  sure,  even  though  the 
182 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

man  protests  that  he  is  not  religious, 
you  have  a  touch  of  the  heavenly  char- 
acter. 

And  wherever  you  find  one  who,  re- 
joicing in  the  presence  of  God,  gives  to 
the  community  the  illustration  of  these 
characteristics,  you  have  one  who  is  in- 
deed of  heaven  ;  that  is  even  now  his 
citizenship.  Heavenly  -  mindedness  is, 
therefore,  at  the  foundations  of  all  that 
is  best  and  purest  in  the  common  rou- 
tine of  life.  It  is  that  which  prevents 
worldly  interests  from  becoming  merely 
worldly,  but  makes  them  the  clothing 
and  the  instruments  of  the  heavenly. 
Let  us  be  explicit  here. 

Heavenly-mindedness  is  not  the  pecu- 
liar property  of  those  sweet  and  lovely 
characters  that  seem  too  good  to  live 
long  here  ;  too  fragile  for  the  rough  and 
tumble  of  this  life.  These  may  be  hea- 
venly-minded. 

But  there  are  strong,  manly,  rough, 
honest,  practical  souls  in  the  turmoil  of 
life,  whose  hands  are  hardened  with 
toil,  whose  brows  are  knit  with  the 
pressure  of  work,  who  amidst  all  their 
cares  and  pleasures  are  bringing  into 
life  the  presence  of  God ;  because  with 
183 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

Him  in  their  lives,  they  are  bringing  in 
what  the  world  wants  above  all  things, 
righteousness. 

And  now,  my  friends,  we  turn  to  our- 
selves. As  Christians,  our  ambition  is 
to  be  in  the  true  sense  heavenly-minded. 

Yet  there  is  no  temptation  more  subtle 
and  more  common  than  that  which  sub- 
stitutes feelings  for  facts,  which  mistakes 
the  presence  of  vague,  pious  emotions 
for  the  presence  of  God.  But  let  God's 
presence  once  sweep  through  the  men 
and  women  of  the  Church  in  all  its  ful- 
ness, the  presence  of  perfect  righteous- 
ness, purity,  truth,  and  sacrifice,  and  what 
a  stirring  of  the  dead  bones  of  lingering 
piety  would  it  create.  Do  not  understand 
me  as  saying  that  the  people  have  none 
of  God's  presence.  But  do  understand 
me,  that  in  this  generation  and  in  the 
next  generation,  when  pagan  culture  is 
becoming  noble  in  some  of  its  character- 
istics, when  self-sacrifice  is  recognized 
as  the  duty  of  even  unbelievers.  Chris- 
tian people,  if  they  are  to  represent 
Christ  and  His  Church,  must  bring  to 
the  world  lives  that  are  suffused,  that 
are  fired  with  God's  presence. 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

I  do  not  mean  simply  enthusiasm,  go, 
activity  in  Church  and  missionary  work, 
but  all  these  backed  by  the  deepest 
elements  of  the  true  heavenly  charac- 
ter. Men,  righteous  men,  honest,  paying 
their  debts  promptly,  being  right  with 
all  men  ;  pure  men,  not  simply  harm- 
lessly innocent,  but  strongly  and  posi- 
tively pure  in  tone,  in  speech,  in  thought ; 
true  men,  who,  under  no  technical 
cover,  hold  back  or  add  to  the  truth, 
but  who  are  as  transparent  as  the  light ; 
men  and  women  of  self  -  sacrifice.  I 
know  of  no  worldliness  so  subtle  as  that 
which  may  undermine  the  early  enthu- 
siasms of  a  man  as  he  takes  on  the  com- 
mercial and  worldly  spirit.  Each  step 
in  the  decline  from  the  high  ideals  and 
noble  ambitions  of  his  youth,  down  to 
the  comfortable  easy  life  of  the  middle 
age,  may  be  justified  to  his  own  satis- 
faction ;  and  really,  he  may  not  have  the 
slightest  conception  that  he  is  self-de- 
ceived ;  yet  the  decline  is  there,  God's 
presence  departing  :  heaven  more  distant 
as  the  next  life  comes  nearer. 

But  blessed  is  he  who,  throwing  him- 
self into  all  interests  that  interest  men 
and  women,  and  into  those  peculiar  in- 
i8s 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

terests  that  belong  to  his  calling,  keeps 
his  heart  and  life  ever  open  to  the  voice 
and  the  life  of  God. 

In  these  days,  when  thousands  on 
thousands  are  being  wrecked  in  their 
faith  through  the  pressure  of  pagan 
thought  and  misconceptions  of  Chris- 
tianity, when  huge  masses  of  humanity 
are  going  to  death  every  day  because 
they  are  the  slaves  of  their  senses,  when 
worldliness  is  rampant,  I  cannot  under- 
stand how  Christian  men  can  press  for- 
ward into  a  leading  place  the  questions 
of  ways  and  means,  of  institutions,  and 
the  little  problems  of  ritual  and  theologi- 
cal fine  points,  instead  of  bringing  the 
whole  weight  of  their  character  and  their 
office  upon  the  pressing  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  into  the  world,  and  with  St.  Paul 
"  reason  of  righteousness,  temperance, 
and  judgment  to  come."  Oh  !  the  poor 
souls  that  are  waiting  for  you  and  me  to 
come  and  tell  them  of  Christ,  and  lift 
them  from  doubt  and  misery,  and  com- 
fort them.  Give  them  not  stones,  but 
bread.  Of  course  the  questions  of  ways 
and  means  and  of  institutions  are  of  im- 
portance, of  great  importance.  Yet,  as 
we  look  back  over  the  vista  of  Christian 
i86 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

centuries,  we  find  that  the  heavenly  com- 
pany, the  saints  recognized  throughout 
Christendom  as  saints,  were  of  all  folds, 
of  many  opinions  and  varying  shades  of 
thought.  There  were  certain  features 
that  marked  them  as  citizens  of  heaven. 
They  were,  as  we  have  tried  to  express 
it,  heavenly-minded  men,  women,  and 
children- ;  and  I  know  of  no  higher  work 
—  aye,  of  no  other  work  —  than  that  of 
leading  men  into  that  company. 

I  have  only  time  to  suggest  two  prac- 
tical thoughts  which  I  had  hoped  to  de- 
velop more  fully. 

In  the  first  place,  it  seems  to  me  that 
if  one  is  really  filled  with  the  Spirit  of 
God,  and  really  has  his  eye  singly  on 
what  God  would  prompt  him  to  do,  and, 
while  in  the  midst  of  the  world's  activi- 
ties, keeps  himself  in  character  heavenly- 
minded,  he  will  become  less  self-con- 
scious, less  anxious  of  results,  and  he  will 
have  the  courage  simply  and  quietly  to 
act  and  let  the  results  take  care  of  them- 
selves. 

Questions  are  coming  up  on  all  sides 
on  which  Christian  men,  laymen,  and 
clergymen,  will  have  to  speak  and  act 
187 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS 

wisely,  but  on  which,  also,  they  will  have 
to  speak  and  act  decidedly  and  with 
courage.  No  one  knows  what  effect  the 
action  of  a  man  of  God  may  have.  If 
the  man's  motives  be  pure,  his  character 
of  the  qualities  of  heaven,  no  one  can 
measure  the  effect  of  his  word  and  ac- 
tion. He  has  had  the  courage  of  his 
convictions.  The  heavenly-minded  man 
is,  then,  the  man  of  moral  courage. 

And,  finally,  the  heavenly-minded  man 
is  a  man  of  hope.  There  are  many  losing 
causes  which  Christian  men  will  join. 
There  are  phases  of  theology  and  church 
life  in  which  we  may  become  bound  up 
in  interest.  They  may  fail,  and  we  may 
be  tempted  to  think  that  the  true  cause 
is  lost.  But  the  true  cause  is  so  simple, 
so  deep,  that  of  God  entering  into  and 
gaining  the  life  of  men,  that  it  cannot 
fail.  The  Christian  is  by  the  very  fact 
of  his  calling  a  man  of  hope.  His  eye 
is  forward.  For  the  ascended  Christ, 
who  has  led  captivity  captive,  gives  him 
the  true  line  of  life,  and  the  Christian 
man  —  you  and  I,  men  of  hope  —  look 
for  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth, 
wherein  dwelleth  the  one  eternal  hea- 
venly quality,  —  righteousness. 
i88 


XII 

PRIVILEGE    AND    HELPFULNESS  ^ 

"Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  In 
those  days  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  ten 
men  shall  take  hold,  out  of  all  languages 
of  the  nations,  even  shall  take  hold  of 
the  skirt  of  him  that  is  a  Jew,  saying, 
We  will  go  with  you  ;  for  we  have  heard 
that  God  is  with  you."  ^ 

There  is  something  very  vigorous 
about  the  whole  scene  from  which  this 
text  is  taken. 

To  the  vision  of  the  prophet,  Jerusa- 
lem, once  destroyed  and  desolate,  is  now 
restored.  The  streets,  which  so  short 
time  ago  were  empty  and  grass-grown, 
are  full  of  boys  and  girls  playing ;  the 
vines  on  the  terraces  without  the  wall 
give  their  fruit  and  the  ground  her  in- 
crease. With  the  return  of  strength, 
people,  and  wealth,  comes  also  the  in- 

1  St.  John's  Memorial  Chapel,  Cambridge,  Octo- 
ber 9,  1892. 

2  Zechariah  viii.  23. 

189 


PRIVILEGE   AND   HELPFULNESS 

flow  of  strong  and  vigorous  character. 
"  Speak  ye  every  man  truth  with  his 
neighbor  ;  execute  the  judgment  of  peace 
and  truth,"  are  the  watchwords  of  the 
state. 

But  —  and  here  is  the  unique  feature 
of  the  scene  —  no  sooner  has  the  city 
realized  herself  again,  her  wealth,  her 
character,  and  her  ability,  than  she  real- 
izes also  her  opportunity.  With  privilege 
comes  the  sense  of  responsibility.  The 
nations  about  her,  still  poor  and  deso- 
late, are  in  her  power,  and  may  be  con- 
quered. But,  better  than  that,  they  may 
be  saved  and  enriched.  She  has,  in  her 
abundant  wealth,  a  work  to  do  for  them ; 
and  they  are  looking  to  her  to  do  it. 
She  begins  to  realize  the  glory  of  help- 
fulness and  of  leadership  through  service 
of  others.  Every  citizen  has  become  a 
small  focus  of  light  and  help  to  other 
peoples.  "  In  those  days  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  that  ten  men  shall  take  hold,  out 
of  all  languages  of  the  nations,  even 
shall  take  hold  of  the  skirt  of  him  that  is 
a  Jew,  saying,  We  will  go  with  you  ;  for 
we  have  heard  that  God  is  with  you." 

This,  then,  is  the  thought  from  which 
I  want  to  speak  in  a  plain  and  simple 
190 


PRIVILEGE   AND   HELPFULNESS 

way  this  morning.  With  the  increase 
of  wealth  and  character  comes  the  op- 
portunity of  helpfulness  and  the  glory 
of  leadership  by  service. 

And  as  we  have  no  time  to  spend  in 
talking  of  other  ages  and  of  the  pro- 
phets' days,  I  am  going  to  come  directly 
to  ourselves  and  our  day. 

For  those  of  us  who  have  been  brought 
up  in  the  comforts  of  life,  it  is  very  dif- 
ficult to  realize  that  even  in  this  coun- 
try, and  far  more  so  in  other  lands,  the 
great,  the  very  great  majority  of  people 
are  living  to-day  on  what  they  earned 
yesterday  or  last  month.  We  forget 
that  to  the  great  mass  of  people  a  capi- 
tal of  one  or  a  few  thousand  dollars  is  a 
life  dream  unrealized.  They  work  from 
childhood  to  old  age,  and  though  some 
of  them  have  brought  up  a  family,  they 
have  never  been  able  to  open  a  bank  ac- 
count, or  at  the  best  have  only  gathered 
a  few  hundred  dollars.  I  am  not  now 
speaking  of  the  wretched  poor,  the 
tramps,  and  the  paupers,  but  of  the 
great  body  of  wage -earners  that  form 
our  people,  elect  our  magistrates,  and 
build  up  our  wealth. 
191 


PRIVILEGE  AND   HELPFULNESS 

What  is  true  of  their  financial  is  true 
also  of  their  intellectual  condition.  They 
have  a  rudimentary  education,  but  they 
have  nothing  to  spare.  Throughout 
the  country  districts  you  will  find  self- 
respecting,  industrious,  faithful  people 
who,  however  much  they  wish  to  edu- 
cate their  children,  have  not  enough 
education  themselves  to  inspire  them. 
And  the  whole  type  of  living  is  so  eco- 
nomical, so  close,  and  of  necessity  so 
small,  that  there  is  no  character  even  to 
spare.  They  are  like  the  trees  on  some 
mountain  side,  by  no  fault  of  theirs, 
planted  where  it  is  impossible  to  do 
more  than  cling  to  the  soil  and  hold 
their  own.  There  are  the  common  sym- 
pathies and  deeds  of  kindness  and  mu- 
tual helpfulness  which  one  finds  among 
the  poor.  But  they  have  no  abundance 
of  life  to  give  out  to  others. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is,  through- 
out the  country  and  in  the  cities,  the 
more  favored  class ;  a  class  including 
not  only  the  rich,  but  those  who  have 
been  brought  up  in  reasonable  comfort, 
who  have  received  more  than  the  aver- 
age education,  and  who  have,  by  inheri- 
tance and  nurture,  a  larger  amount  of 
192 


PRIVILEGE  AND   HELPFULNESS 

vital  character  than  is  necessary  simply 
to  hold  their  own. 

Probably  almost  every  person  in  this 
congregation  is  of  that  class.  All  of  us 
have  had  opportunities  better  than  the 
average.  And  as  we  enter  or  develop 
into  manhood  and  womanhood,  the  ques- 
tion rises  as  to  whether  we  are  going  to 
live  simply  to  ourselves,  or  whether,  like 
the  revived  Jerusalem,  we  shall,  in  the 
realization  of  our  privilege,  realize  also 
our  opportunity  of  helpfulness. 

The  truth  is  that  the  modern  com- 
munity is  bound  together  by  ties  of 
common  interest.  The  idea  that  any 
one  individual  has  the  right  to  do  as  he 
pleases,  and  spend  his  money  as  he 
pleases,  regardless  of  the  welfare  of  the 
community,  is  passed.  "  No  man  liveth 
to  himself."  The  bonds  of  commerce,  of 
political  and  social  interest,  are  so  close 
and  strong  that  a  movement  at  any  point 
affects  the  whole  fabric.  The  solidarity 
of  society  is  being  recognized  more  fully 
every  year. 

Every  one,  therefore,  who,  in  health, 

education,  wealth,  or  character,  has  been 

privileged,   has  laid   upon  him    by  that 

very  fact  the  opportunity  and  the  duty 

193 


PRIVILEGE   AND   HELPFULNESS 

of  pouring  out  from  that  for  the  enrich- 
ment and  help  of  others. 

Of  course  this  is  commonplace.  And 
yet  when  one  comes  to  apply  the  princi- 
ple personally,  the  questions  and  difficul- 
ties begin  to  rise. 

Here  is  a  man,  born  in  comfort,  blessed 
with  a  Christian  home,  and  the  best  of 
school  and  collegiate  education,  who  on 
reaching  manhood  turns  thought,  money, 
life,  and  character  on  to  the  things  that 
go  to  make  up  a  life  of  ease,  of  style,  and 
of  popular  favor.  There  is  nothing  bad 
about  the  man.  In  principle  he  agrees 
with  all  that  we  have  said.  But  he  tells 
us  that  we  have  no  idea  of  the  pressure 
that  there  is  upon  him.  The  necessities 
of  his  social  life  and  position  really  claim 
his  whole  time.  As  for  his  income,  large 
as  it  is,  it  is  hardly  sufficient  for  his  own 
expenses  ;  and  as  for  character,  it  is 
hard  enough  to  hold  his  own  under  the 
social  temptations.  No  !  there  is  no- 
thing left  to  give  out  to  others.  And 
so,  in  spite  of  himself,  the  man  really 
believes  that  it  is  out  of  his  power  to 
do  much  of  anything  beyond  the  keep- 
ing up  of  his  establishment  and  social 
engagements. 

194 


PRIVILEGE   AND   HELPFULNESS 

We  all  know  men  who,  in  spite  of  their 
better  selves,  find  themselves  gradually 
drawn  into  a  smaller  and  smaller  circle 
of  interests.  The  large  ambitions  of 
doing  for  others,  the  high  ideals  which 
haunted  their  boyhood,  gradually  fade 
from  their  thoughts  ;  and  in  time,  they 
who  in  privilege,  ability,  and  character 
had  the  opportunity  of  influencing  a 
whole  community,  it  may  be  of  uplifting 
the  political  or  social  life  about  them, 
have  settled  down  into  a  comfortable 
chair  at  the  club. 

The  man  —  and  with  our  increasing 
leisure  class  we  are  multiplying  them  — 
who  thus  lives  to  himself  and  a  few 
friends,  who  spends  money  and  time  re- 
gardless of  the  great  needs  of  the  com- 
munity, has  not  in  him  the  first  principle 
of  modern  civilization.  For  that  stands 
upon  the  basis  of  the  common  interest, 
and  the  welfare  of  the  whole  people.  If 
the  privilege  of  wealth  and  leisure  is 
abused  by  those  who  have  them,  there 
will  soon  be  no  room  in  the  community 
for  them.  For  with  the  rising  power  of 
democracy  and  the  increasing  realization 
of  the  solidarity  of  the  community,  pub- 
lic opinion,  and  then  public  legislation, 
19s 


PRIVILEGE   AND   HELPFULNESS 

will  cut  down  the  possibilities  of  such  a 
life.  The  people  are  willing  to  see  a  man 
who  has  earned  his  wealth,  or  at  least 
one  who  uses  his  wealth  well,  enjoy  a 
fair  proportion  of  it.  But  it  is  a  ques- 
tion how  long  they  will  endure  the  ex- 
pensive luxury  of  those  who  having 
wealth  waste  or  spend  it  on  themselves. 
While  such  a  life  may  be  more  open 
to  censure  in  a  man,  may  we  not  also  ask 
whether  the  life  of  mere  society  is  any 
more  graceful  in  a  woman  .''  Why  should 
those  who  have  culture,  attractiveness, 
sympathies  and  social  power,  be  content 
to  limit  them  to  the  small  circle  of  one 
class  of  society,  when  they  might  be 
vital  centres  of  sympathy  in  the  larger 
social  life,  and  realize  the  grateful  sense 
of  leading  others  to  better  and  not  more 
frivolous  lives.''  There  is  something  al- 
most grotesque  in  the  way  that  capable 
and  in  most  respects  sensible  women 
regret  the  pressure  of  society,  protest 
that  they  wish  they  were  out  of  it,  and 
insist  that  such  a  waste  of  time  and  the 
turning  night  into  day  is  against  all 
conscience  and  reason,  and  then  move 
into  the  centre  of  the  whirl  as  uncon- 
sciously and  naturally  as  possible. 
196 


PRIVILEGE  AND   HELPFULNESS 

Of  course  there  is  no  sharp  line  be- 
tween the  worldly  and  the  unworldly,  the 
selfish  and  the  unselfish,  the  good  and  the 
bad  ;  there  are  virtues  and  faults  in  each. 
Frivolity  is  not  the  only  sin,  nor  the 
worst  one  by  any  means.  But  the  first 
point  that  I  want  to  make  —  and  I  repeat 
it  especially  for  the  young  men  and  wo- 
men who  have  their  future  before  them 
—  is  that  a  life  devoted  to  one's  own  plea- 
sure, to  the  round  of  social  life,  winter 
and  summer,  is  out  of  harmony  with  the 
trend  of  modern  civilization.  It  is  nar- 
rowing, weakening,  and  unworthy  of  men 
and  women  of  a  privileged  class  whose 
large  opportunity  is  to  give  something 
of  the  abundance  of  their  life  to  others, 
to  the  welfare  of  the  larger  society,  the 
whole  community. 

Let  us,  however,  leave  the  negative 
aspect  of  the  case.  I  want  to  tell  you  of 
the  privilege  of  helpfulness  and  the  glory 
of  leadership  by  service. 

Wherever  there  has  been  nobility  of 
character,  there  has  been  the  glad  ac- 
knowledgment that  with  privilege  came 
duty  and  opportunity.  The  ancient  no- 
bility, so  far  as  it  was  really  noble,  recog- 
197 


PRIVILEGE   AND   HELPFULNESS 

nized  their  duty  to  the  serfs,  their  ser- 
vants and  soldiers ;  and  between  the 
baron  and  his  people  was  the  bond  of 
mutual  service.  The  chivalrous  officer 
has  always  gloried  in  leading  to  danger. 
The  true  scholar  has  put  his  learning  at 
the  service  of  the  world.  Surely,  in  this 
country,  where  formal  rank  is  unrecog- 
nized, those  who  are  splendid  in  wealth, 
rich  in  culture,  and  noble  in  character, 
have  a  magnificent  opportunity.  I  know 
that  we  are  told  that  the  common  people 
are  unappreciative  of  fineness  of  culture 
and  beauty  of  character  ;  that  influence 
goes  to  those  who  bid  for  it,  and  that 
small  men  hold  the  offices  and  the  power. 
Even  if  this  were  so,  as  it  certainly  is 
not,  still  noblesse  oblige.  Culture  and 
character  do  not  look  to  or  care  for  im- 
mediate results. 

But  beyond  the  sense  of  duty  comes 
the  ambition  to  be  a  full  man.  "  Unto 
the  perfect  man "  must  be  the  goal  of 
every  one  who  claims  manly  qualities. 
The  trouble  with  most  of  our  lives  is 
that  they  lack  proportion  :  one  is  sim- 
ply a  money-maker,  another  a  pleasure- 
seeker,  and  another,  despising  money 
and  pleasure,  devotes  himself  to  a  life  of 
198 


PRIVILEGE   AND    HELPFULNESS 

self-sacrifice.  Whereas,  while  each  man 
must  have  his  individual  characteristics, 
each  must  also  be  broad  and  large  and 
fully  developed  enough  to  have  many  in- 
terests and  to  hold  them  in  proper  per- 
spective. In  this  was  the  charm  of  Sir 
Philip  Sidney  —  not  that  he  was  braver 
than  others,  or  a  better  courtier  or  a 
purer  poet  than  others  ;  but  that  he  had 
all  the  qualities  which  go  to  make  up  the 
man,  in  such  true  proportion.  He  was, 
as  one  biographer  calls  him,  "  the  essence 
of  congruity." 

Now  I  care  not  how  cultured,  refined, 
brave,  or  honest  a  man  may  be,  if  he  have 
not  a  sympathetic  outlook  upon  the  less 
fortunate  and  the  great  numbers  of  the 
community  who  have  not  had  his  privi- 
leges; if  he  have  none  of  the  spirit  of 
real  sacrifice,  of  helpfulness,  then  he 
lacks  one  of  the  loveliest  and  richest 
traits  of  true  manhood.  It  is  this  that 
helps  him  to  be  master  of  himself  as  well 
as  of  others.  The  sense  that  some  one 
needs  him  and  looks  to  him  for  help, 
appeals  to  his  self-respect,  his  strength 
of  purpose,  his  patience,  and  his  moral 
courage. 

Thus  by  uplifting  others  he  himself  is 
199 


PRIVILEGE   AND   HELPFULNESS 

uplifted  in  character;  by  serving  others 
he  becomes  master  of  himself. 

The  attractive  feature  of  wealth  and 
position  to  the  modern  man  is  the  sense 
of  power  that  they  give  —  a  power  to 
command  and  to  mould  the  lives  of 
others.  But,  my  friends,  such  a  satisfac- 
tion bears  no  comparison  with  the  gratifi- 
cation which  comes  from  the  knowledge 
that  one  life  has  been  helped  by  you, 
and  that  that  life  is  within  your  power, 
not  to  enslave,  but  to  redeem.  This  is 
the  reward  which  comes  to  all  helpers  of 
men  in  greater  or  less  degree,  —  to  the 
doctor,  the  teacher,  the  charity-worker. 
This  is  the  glory  of  the  ministry.  As  I 
see  young  men  pleased  with  their  suc- 
cess in  law  and  business,  as  they  have  a 
right  to  be,  I  cannot  but  compare  that 
pleasure  with  the  deep  gratification  of 
the  minister,  who,  working  in  humble 
homes,  finds  that  by  his  devotion  lives 
and  hearts  are  bound  to  him  by  the 
deepest  gratitude.  While  his  friends 
are  wondering  why  he  went  into  that 
dull  calling,  he  is  wondering  why  hun- 
dreds of  men  who  are  passing  their  lives 
adding  figures,  trying  cases,  or  sitting  in 
the  club  are  willing  to  forego  the  grati- 
200 


PRIVILEGE   AND    HELPFULNESS 

fication  of  that  most  interesting  calling 
which  deepens  with  every  year  of  life. 

I  cannot  but  think  that  the  heart  of 
Jesus  must  have  bounded  with  intense 
joy  at  the  gratitude  of  one  poor  life 
which  owed  all  to  Him.  There  must 
have  swept  over  Him  that  sweet  sense 
of  spiritual  power.  That  life  was  His  to 
command.  He  would  use  His  power  to 
redeem  that  life,  to  bring  it  to  its  best 
self  and  to  God. 

20I 


XIII 

A    KEY-NOTE    OF    COLLEGE    LIFE^ 

"  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 
Wherefore  criest  thou  unto  me  ?  Speak 
unto  the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  go 
forward."  ^ 

The  command  is  crisp  and  clear.  Its 
note  is,  it  seems  to  me,  in  harmony  with 
the  spirit  and  purpose  of  this  our  first 
service  in  the  college  chapel  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  college  year. 

Our  meeting  here,  with  its  service 
and  addresses,  is  not  for  the  discussion 
of  some  doctrine,  or  some  particular 
phase  of  Christian  thought  and  work, 
but  in  this  crisis  of  collegiate  and  indi- 
vidual life  to  look  each  other  in  the 
face,  to  gather  confidence  in  the  recog- 
nition of  fellow  -  workers,  and  in  the 
realization  of  a  common  Father  and 
Master,     Thus,  those  who  are  taking  up 

^  Appleton  Chapel,  Harvard  University,  Septem- 
ber 28,  1890. 
2  Exodus  xiv.  15. 

202 


A   KEY-NOTE   OF   COLLEGE   LIFE 

the  second,  third,  or  fourth  year  of  the 
work  that  they  laid  down  in  June  may 
gather  fresh  confidence  and  enthusiasm  ; 
and  those  who  have  entered  these  doors 
for  the  first  time  may  reahze  that  the 
same  God  and  the  same  faith  are  here 
that  are  found  in  their  homes,  and  that 
in  this  new  phase  of  hfe  larger  inspira- 
tions may  come  to  meet  the  greater  risks 
and  the  nobler  duties. 

The  thought  of  every  student  to-night 
is  forward,  and  the  point  that  I  want  to 
emphasize  is  that  it  is  only  in  a  posi- 
tive movement  forward  that  safety,  truth, 
life,  and  character  exist. 

Let  me  first  say  that  the  value  of  the 
future  is  to  be  measured  by  a  realization 
of  the  value  of  the  present. 

One  or  two  generations  ago  the  stress 
of  Christian  preaching  was  laid  upon  the 
future  life,  its  heavenly  promises  and  its 
dreadful  condemnations.  This  life  was 
one  of  mere  probation  for  the  next. 
And  thus  the  present  existence  with  its 
duties  and  its  heavenly  satisfactions  was 
sometimes  robbed  of  its  importance  and 
reality.  To-day  the  stress  of  the  living 
preacher  is  laid  upon  the  eternal  now : 
203 


A   KEY-NOTE   OF  COLLEGE   LIFE 

"He  that  believeth  hath  everlasting 
life."  Here  and  now  are  Heaven  and 
Hell,  blessedness  and  condemnation,  re- 
ward and  punishment. 

There  is,  I  think,  something  of  our 
old  way  of  looking  at  life  in  the  man- 
ner in  which  school  and  college  days 
are  often  treated.  They  are  emphasized 
as  terms  of  preparation  and  probation 
for  mature  manhood.  The  schoolboy 
is  thus  tempted  to  belittle  his  opportuni- 
ties, in  expectation  of  the  larger  ones  in 
college  life,  and  the  young  man  in  col- 
lege does  not  take  the  risks  and  sins  and 
chances  at  their  full  value,  in  the  impres- 
sion that  the  real  ones  will  come  in  later 
years.  The  true  perspective  of  life  is 
warped.  Of  course  the  truth  of  proba- 
tion and  preparation  have  their  impor- 
tance, but  the  work  of  the  present  is  to 
emphasize  the  worth  of  the  present. 

Whatever  value  your  studies  here  have 
in  the  preparation  for  your  profession  or 
future  work,  the  real  and  deeper  motive 
is  the  higher  one ;  the  seeking  of  truth 
for  the  truth's  sake  ;  the  development 
in  character  for  character's  sake ;  the 
growth  in  culture  and  manhood,  because 
cultivated  manhood  is  the  richest  gift 
204 


A   KEY-NOTE   OF   COLLEGE   LIFE 

that  college  or  man  can  give  to  human- 
ity. 

Life  is  not  measured  by  the  number 
of  years  ;  the  fullest  life  is  not  always 
that  which  is  old  and  gray-headed.  Life 
is  measured  by  its  reality  while  life  is. 
The  middle-aged  man  in  looking  at  his 
present  risks  and  opportunities  in  busi- 
ness or  society  finds  them  no  more  real 
than  those  of  his  college  days,  although 
college  was  said  to  have  been  a  time  of 
preparation  for  the  real  duties  of  life. 
No,  my  friends,  the  realities  of  life  are 
here.  Temptation  is  seldom  keener 
than  in  college  days.  Opportunities  are 
seldom,  perhaps  never  larger.  Here 
character  has  its  real  tests,  and  true  life 
its  highest  satisfaction. 

There  may  be,  there  are  artificial 
standards  in  different  social  groups.  So 
there  are  outside  the  college  gates ;  but 
there  is,  I  believe,  no  standard  in  mature 
age  so  even  and  sure  as  the  respect 
which  comes  to  one  in  college  who,  with 
all  modesty,  is  true  to  his  convictions 
and  faithful  to  his  opportunities. 

With  this  year,  ay,  with  this  very 
week,  come  the  crises  and  the  tests  of 
life.  And  my  first  word  is,  meet  them 
205 


A   KEY-NOTE   OF   COLLEGE   LIFE 

with  all  the  courage  and  earnestness  with 
which  you  would  meet  the  real  crises  of 
middle  life  ;  for  these  are  the  real  crises. 
The  college  is  beyond  all  other  places 
the  valley  of  decision.  And  the  move- 
ment upward  or  downward  begins  early. 
Behold,  "  now "  is  literally  the  day  of 
each  college  man's  salvation. 

The  key-note  of  our  text  is  "for- 
ward ; "  and  the  test  of  the  true  life  is 
in  its  advancement. 

The  question  that  first  rises  for  an- 
swer is,  in  what  does  advancement  con- 
sist .? 

Some  of  you,  in  separating  from  your 
old  schoolmates  who  are  to  enter  busi- 
ness directly,  may  have  had  a  pang  of 
regret  lest  they  get  ahead  faster.  Four 
years  will  find  them  experienced  in  busi- 
ness methods,  and  far  in  advance  of  the 
young  graduate  in  the  art  of  making 
money  and  the  school  of  the  market. 
To  many  people  in  this  country  a  college 
education  is  synonymous  with  four  years 
wasted  in  studies  that  do  not  profit,  and 
in  gaining  knowledge  that  has  no  mar- 
ket value. 

Of  course,  if  success  in  the  market  is 
206 


A   KEY-NOTE   OF   COLLEGE   LIFE 

the  test  of  advancement,  then  college 
life  may  be  a  failure  in  giving  the  for- 
ward movement.  But  if  life  has  other 
riches  and  rewards,  then  it  may  be  that 
some  of  them  are  gained  here. 

The  noblest  march  which  humanity 
is  making  to-day  is  the  quest  of  the 
truth.  Truth  may  be  found  in  the 
activities  of  professional  and  business 
life ;  she  is  found  there.  But  in  this 
place  the  whole  motive  and  purpose  of 
life  is  in  the  search  for  truth.  The 
challenging  cry  in  the  life  of  the  student 
is  the  echo  of  the  Lord's  word,  "  Speak 
unto  the  children  of  Israel  that  they  go 
forward."  And  as  they  move,  they  have 
the  realization  that  the  noblest  men  of 
the  past  are  with  them.  In  the  touch 
of  student  with  student,  in  the  sympa- 
thetic talk  and  thought,  the  movement 
gains  in  strength.  As  the  young  man 
takes  one  of  the  narrowest  lines  of  study, 
and  devotes  himself  to  that,  but  never 
allows  himself  to  be  enslaved  by  it  ;  as 
he  studies  that  in  relation  to  the  larger 
fields  of  science  and  the  eternal  laws  of 
nature  ;  as  he  recognizes  in  his  micro- 
scopic interest  the  unity  of  God's  uni- 
verse and  the  true  relations  of  man,  his 
207 


A   KEY-NOTE   OF  COLLEGE   LIFE 

life  is  broadened  while  his  mind  is  deep- 
ened, and  he  is  the  larger  man  for  his 
specialist's  work. 

As  the  student  talks  with  fellow-stu- 
dent of  the  ideals  of  life,  of  the  hopes 
and  possibilities  ;  as  each  cheers  the 
other  on  in  the  effort  after  nobler 
thought  and  action,  the  movement  is 
steadily  forward.  Character  is  ennobled, 
truth  is  gained,  and  the  nation  is  being 
enriched,  not  with  opened  mines  of  silver, 
but  with  a  finer  manhood  and  with 
higher  ideals  of  life. 

I  want  to  suggest,  this  evening,  two 
phases  of  progress  which  have  their  spe- 
cial place  in  this  chapel. 

First,  I  wish  to  speak  of  the  move- 
ment towards  a  deeper  and  more  vital 
faith. 

There  is  a  popular  impression  that 
college  life  is  necessarily  dangerous  to  a 
man's  faith.  Many  are  the  parents  who 
have  sent  their  sons  to  this  place  and  to 
other  colleges  this  month,  with  the  heavy 
load  of  dread  lest  their  boys  return  with 
an  education  gained  and  a  faith  lost. 
If  it  is  true  that  with  the  increase  of 
culture  must  come  the  decrease  of  faith, 
208 


A   KEY-NOTE   OF   COLLEGE   LIFE 

then  surely  culture  has  a  terrible  indict- 
ment to  answer  to. 

We  have  no  such  impression.  That 
the  faith  often  does  decline  in  college 
is  true ;  that  young  men  of  prayer  and 
religious  life  go  forth,  prayerless  and 
irreligious,  cannot  be  gainsaid  ;  but  that 
these  have  any  necessary  connection  with 
college  life  and  thought,  it  seems  hardly 
worth  while  to  deny. 

College  has,  of  course,  all  the  danger 
that  intensity  of  interest  brings  in  any 
phase  of  life ;  as  with  the  business  man 
or  lawyer,  the  keen  interests  in  the  pres- 
ent activities  deaden  the  senses  to  their 
higher  and  spiritual  meaning.  The  stu- 
dent who  comes  here  full  of  simple  piety 
soon  finds  that  the  unaccustomed  pres- 
sure of  the  intellectual  duties  and  recrea- 
tions, of  the  athletic  and  social  activities, 
is  felt  in  every  hour  of  the  day.  The 
habits  of  family  life  are  broken  up ;  the 
conventionalities  of  the  home,  the  mo- 
ments of  prayer,  the  worship  on  Sunday, 
are  pressed  into.  Something  has  to  give 
way  in  order  to  make  room  for  the  new 
interests,  and  the  young  man  awakens 
some  day  to  find  that  his  religious  habits 
have  gone,  and  that  his  faith  is  fast  dis- 
209 


A   KEY-NOTE   OF   COLLEGE   LIFE 

appearing.  Or  the  case  may  be  worse 
than  this.  The  temptations  of  college 
life  sweep  in  on  the  untried  character. 
In  some  young  men  the  first  experience 
in  liberty  leads  to  license.  The  desire 
to  be  popular  weakens  the  moral  fibre. 
High  principles  give  way  to  foolish  ac- 
tions. These  undermine  the  character 
and  destroy  the  ideals  of  life.  The  sem- 
blance of  religion  may  be  kept  up  for 
awhile  ;  but  the  man  is  too  honest  not 
to  see  the  hypocrisy  in  that,  and  too 
logical  not  to  feel  the  inconsistency  of 
his  present  life  and  a  real  faith ;  so  that 
faith  has  to  go.  And  in  later  years 
the  fashionable  cynic  who  was  a  reli- 
gious boy  calls  religion  a  fraud,  and  col- 
lege life  a  dangerous  experience  for  any 
man. 

In  all  the  talk  of  the  decline  of  faith, 
I  believe  that  a  large  part  is  due  not  to 
serious  and  deliberate  questionings,  not 
to  high  intellectual  doubts,  but  to  these 
very  commonplace  causes,  the  gradual 
loss  of  religious  habits,  and  a  careless  or 
immoral  life.  Let  each  doubter  ques- 
tion himself  in  these,  before  he  rises  to 
more  ambitious  grounds.  Let  these  be 
corrected,  before  he  hopes  to  clear  the 

210 


A   KEY-NOTE   OF   COLLEGE   LIFE 

horizon  of  his  doubts  by  intellectual  dis- 
cussions. 

But  the  point  that  I  want  to  press  is 
that  the  college  life  should  give,  and 
often  does  give,  the  noblest  results  in 
the  advance  of  personal  faith  and  reli- 
gious life. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  in  the  intellec- 
tual activities  and  discoveries  the  beliefs 
and  opinions  of  boyhood  have  to  readjust 
themselves.  Who  can  think  of  a  living 
faith  when  such  readjustment  is  avoided  .-* 
No  doubt  hard  questions  and  serious  ones 
have  to  be  met ;  in  this  is  one  sign  of  a 
true  movement.  In  the  husbandry  of  a 
vital  faith,  the  branches  and  trunk  may 
perhaps  have  to  be  cut,  and  the  life  may 
seem  to  be  taken  out  of  the  very  roots  ; 
but  with  the  heart  humble,  the  life  pure, 
and  the  mind  open,  the  vital  element  is 
sure  to  show  itself,  and  out  of  the  ruin 
will  grow  up  a  more  beautiful,  strong, 
and  living  faith. 

Few  men  pass  through  college  in  these 
days  without  some  such  experience.  The 
danger  is  not  in  the  meeting,  but  in  the 
trying  to  escape  the  questions,  and  to 
brace  up  the  old  scaffolding  of  faith  with 
makeshifts  instead  of  boldly  testing  the 


A  KEY-NOTE   OF   COLLEGE   LIFE 

reality  or  existence  of  the  faith  behind 
the  scaffolding. 

Here,  then,  is  the  great  opportunity  for 
renewing  and  vitalizing  the  religious  life 
and  the  personal  faith,  but  the  look  must 
be  forward. 

With  the  development  of  intellectual 
life,  with  the  changed  emphasis  of  va- 
rious truths,  with  the  new  revelations  in 
letters,  philosophy,  and  life,  come  larger 
suggestions  of  the  relation  of  Christ's 
religion  to  all  these.  The  personal  re- 
ligious faith,  which  has  kept  us  pure 
and  strong  in  boyhood,  now  opens  up 
into  new  and  wider  vistas.  Some  of 
the  ideas  and  opinions  which  we  have 
identified  with  the  faith  gradually  sepa- 
rate themselves  as  the  shell  parts  from 
the  bursting  acorn  :  but  the  living  ele- 
ment of  trust  in  God,  confidence  in  Him 
who  is  the  Truth  and  the  Life,  gathers 
to  itself  more  and  more  of  the  inter- 
ests of  life.  Now,  as  we  think  the  mat- 
ter out,  there  are  not  two  worlds,  — 
the  world  of  culture  and  the  world  of 
religion,  —  but  they  are  bound  together 
in  the  same  universe,  in  the  same  life. 
God  is  more  than  the  Heavenly  Father 
of  childhood  ;  He  is  also  the  maker  and 


A   KEY-NOTE   OF  COLLEGE   LIFE 

giver  of  all  good  things,  from  whom 
Cometh  every  good  and  perfect  gift. 
Christ  is  more  than  the  Saviour  who 
died  that  souls  might  be  saved  :  He  is 
the  great  elder  brother,  the  type  of  per- 
fect humanity ;  He  is  the  centre  about 
whom  all  elements  of  truth,  all  discov- 
eries and  revelations  cluster. 

From  the  day  that  the  first  student 
entered  this  college,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago,  think  of  the  movements 
in  the  theories  of  philosophy  and  sci- 
ence and  of  the  revolutions  in  theology. 
Men's  hearts  have  failed  them  for  fear 
lest  the  faith  were  vanishing  with  each 
generation.  But,  amidst  it  all,  how  the 
person  of  Christ  has  risen  to  greater 
and  greater  dignity,  until  now  He  stands 
as  the  centre  of  all  true  religion. 

This,  then,  is  the  sheet  anchor  of  your 
faith.  In  all  the  discussions  and  ques- 
tions and  denials,  keep  close  in  sympathy 
with  the  essence  of  Christ's  character ; 
learn  of  Him,  study  Him,  set  your  stan- 
dards by  Him,  live  in  Him  ;  and  you 
may  be  sure  that,  whatever  your  opin- 
ions or  your  theories,  you  will  hold  the 
vital  element  of  the  faith  which  you 
brought  from  your  home. 
213 


A   KEY-NOTE   OF   COLLEGE   LIFE 

Religion  is  not  here  on  sufferance, 
merely  to  be  held  on  to  until  the  stress 
of  college  thought  and  life  is  past.  This 
chapel  has  no  apologies  for  standing 
open  in  the  centre  of  intellectual  activ- 
ities every  morning  of  the  term.  The 
chapel  claims  that  the  truth  she  repre- 
sents is  the  centre  and  the  vital  force 
of  the  best  life  of  the  college.  From 
her  and  from  the  faith  for  which  she 
stands  radiate  the  light  and  the  life 
which  give  the  glory  and  the  inspiration 
to  all  the  truth  and  the  manhood  that 
dwells  under  the  shadow  of  the  univer- 
sity. On  the  truth  as  interpreted  by 
Christ  and  the  Church,  the  college  was 
founded.  On  that  same  truth  and  in 
that  same  faith  do  she  and  her  students 
now  live. 

From  this  we  are  led  to  the  other 
thought  of  the  positive,  I  may  almost 
say  the  aggressive,  action  which  belongs 
to  the  student  of  the  university. 

Where  in  the  world  would  you  look 
for  hope,  and  inspiration,  and  enthusi- 
asm, unless  it  be  among  a  thousand 
young  men  with  life  before  them,  and 
truth  and  experience  still  their  earnest 
214 


A   KEY-NOTE   OF   COLLEGE   LIFE 

quest  ?  And  where,  I  may  ask,  have  we 
a  better  right  than  here  to  expect  heroic 
action,  the  scorn  of  meanness,  and  the 
highest  ambitions?  The  overshadowing 
influence  of  a  university  is  oppressive  to 
some  persons  ;  they  feel  that  its  influ- 
ence and  the  associations  within  its  gates 
are  all-powerful.  "What  effect  do  you 
think  the  college  will  have  on  my  son  ? " 
is  the  question  of  the  anxious  father. 
"  What  effect  is  your  son  going  to  have 
upon  the  college  .'' "  is  the  response  of 
the  wiser  teacher. 

For  where  man  touches  man  so  closely, 
where  public  opinion  is  so  sensitive, 
where  four  years  make  a  generation  and 
eight  years  make  an  ancient  tradition, 
where  the  spirit  is  democratic  and  char- 
acter tells  for  what  it  is,  there  are  un- 
told possibilities  for  influence  in  the  col- 
lege life.  Few  men  will  ever  have  such 
opportunity  for  good  or  evil  as  in  these 
four  years.  College  history  is  full  of 
the  instances  of  what  one  or  a  group  of 
strong,  manly,  and  religious  young  men 
have  done  in  creating  and  reforming 
public  opinion,  in  elevating  the  stan- 
dards of  life,  in  upholding  purity,  honor, 
and  truth. 

2IS 


A   KEY-NOTE   OF   COLLEGE   LIFE 

The  college  waits  for  no  leader  ;  she 
needs  none.  She  looks  to  each  man  to 
do  his  own  earnest,  enthusiastic  part. 
She  has  thrown  heavy  responsibilities 
upon  the  students.  Even  the  vitality 
and  the  earnestness  of  the  religious  life 
depend  not  upon  the  college  organiza- 
tion, but  upon  the  whole  body  of  schol- 
ars and  teachers.  If  each  of  us  puts 
forth  the  best  that  is  in  him,  and  faith- 
fully and  earnestly  does  his  part  in  the 
religious  and  moral,  as  well  as  the  intel- 
lectual and  athletic  life  of  the  university, 
who  knows  what  four  years  or  one  year 
may  bring  forth  ? 

We  who  live  perpetually  within  the 
touch  of  this  university  are  often  in 
danger  of  overlooking  the  ennobling  in- 
fluences about  us.  The  routine  and  the 
daily  duties  push  before  us  the  details, 
the  discouragements,  and  the  smaller 
satisfactions  of  the  work.  And  so  we 
lose  the  true  perspective,  and  forget  the 
nobler  phases,  the  historic  aspect,  and 
the  cloud  of  witnesses  around  and  be- 
hind us. 

It  was  only  two  or  three  weeks  ago 
that  a  master  of  one  of  the  great  schools 
216 


A   KEY-NOTE   OF   COLLEGE   LIFE 

of  England  stood  in  yonder  Hall  and  said, 
with  mingled  admiration  and  regret,  that 
neither  Oxford  nor  Cambridge  had  any- 
thing to  compare  with  the  idea  of  that 
memorial  for  inspiration,  self-sacrifice, 
and  patriotism.  And  now  that  a  Sol- 
diers' Field  is  added  to  the  Memorial 
Hall,  and  that  saintly  scholars  and  holy 
ministers  and  chivalrous  youths  look 
down  upon  us,  who  could  ask  for  a 
nobler  company  and  a  higher  inspira- 
tion ? 

Oh,  then,  as  we  take  up  the  year  in  the 
name  of  Christ  and  his  saints,  let  us  be 
of  good  courage,  full  of  faith,  ready  to 
act  in  His  service.  Let  each  man's 
heart  speak  to  himself  and  to  others  of 
the  higher  life :  "  Speak  unto  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  that  they  go  forward." 
217 


XIV 

A  SERVANT  OF  HIS  OWN  GENERATION  ^ 

"  For  David,  after  he  had  served  his 
own  generation  by  the  will  of  God,  fell 
on  sleep,  and  was  laid  unto  his  fathers."  ^ 

Such  was  the  summary  of  David's  life 
work.  It  was  an  obituary  modest,  true, 
and  noble.  St.  Paul  spoke  the  words. 
He  was  giving  to  the  people  of  Antioch 
a  sketch  of  Israel's  history.  As  he  men- 
tioned the  name  of  the  great  King 
David,  he  might  naturally  have  broken 
forth  in  high  eulogy ;  he  might  have 
pointed  out  his  courage,  statesmanship, 
and  faith  ;  he  might  have  shown  how 
David's  life  had  influenced  the  genera- 
tions after  him. 

But  Paul,  holding  his  eloquence  within 
the  closest  bounds,  summed  up  the  life 
in  the  simple  but  great  panegyric  :  "  Da- 
vid, after  he  had  served  his  own  genera- 

1  Baccalaureate  Sermon,  Appleton    Chapel,    Har- 
vard University,  Cambridge,  June  17,  1894. 

2  Acts  xiii.  36. 

218 


A  SERVANT  OF  HIS  OWN  GENERATION 

tion  by  the  will  of  God,  fell  on  sleep,  and 
was  laid  unto  his  fathers." 

Taking  David  as  he  was,  with  his 
greatness  and  his  weaknesses,  and  his 
generation  as  it  was,  with  its  social  and 
national  conditions,  the  greatest  word 
that  could  be  said  of  him  was  that  he 
filled  his  place  and  did  his  duty  in  his 
own  day ;  he  served  his  own  generation. 

The  thoughts,  the  ideals,  and  the 
dreads  of  the  people  to-day  are  largely  in 
the  future.  "  What  are  we  coming  to  .''  " 
we  hear  on  every  hand.  "What  mean 
this  warfare  of  classes,  with  its  violence 
and  bloodshed,  this  increase  of  socialism, 
this  decay  of  honor  in  politics,  this  rising 
idea  of  the  solidarity  of  humanity,  this 
revolution  of  religious  thought  ?  Great 
changes  are  in  store  for  the  next  cen- 
tury, great  movements  for  the  better  and 
for  the  worse." 

And  so,  dwelling  on  these  thoughts, 
we  somehow  take  it  for  granted  that  we 
are  approaching  the  brink  of  great  revo- 
lutions in  social,  political,  and  religious 
life.  The  forward  look  moves  our  inter- 
est and  sympathies. 

Now,  while  this  may  all  be  true,  and 
219 


A   SERVANT   OF   HIS    OWN   GENERATION 

while  in  its  proportion  the  forward  look 
has  its  place,  the  thought  that  I  want  to 
emphasize,  my  friends,  is  that  we  are 
now  living  in  the  present,  and  that  our 
duty  is  in  the  present  conditions ;  that 
he  serves  the  future  best  who  best  serves 
the  present. 

I  have  no  new  thoughts  to  give  you 
to-day.  I  do  not  believe  that  you  care 
for  them  now.  What  you  want  is  a  sim- 
ple, straightforward  statement  of  a  few 
of  the  duties  of  an  educated  young  man 
in  these  times,  so  that  you  may  think 
over  them  and  act  upon  them. 

These  I  wish  to  suggest  in  the  three 
phases  of  social,  political,  and  religious 
life. 

First,  in  the  social  life. 

In  our  discussions  as  to  the  present 
and  future  social  conditions,  two  points 
are  usually  emphasized  :  one,  which  I 
have  already  suggested,  that  changes  are 
coming.  The  times  seem  out  of  joint  ; 
social  injustice  is  said  to  exist  ;  but  where 
to  put  the  blame,  or  make  the  cure,  is 
not  so  easy  to  state.  The  other  point 
emphasized  is  that  men  are  needed  who 
will  throw  themselves  into  the  work  of 


A  SERVANT  OF  HIS  OWN  GENERATION 

studying  and  changing  these  social  con- 
ditions ;  men  who  will  devote  themselves 
to  the  uplifting  of  humanity,  experts  in 
charities  and  model  tenements,  philan- 
thropists who  will  give  time,  money,  and 
life  for  the  poor. 

This  is  all  well  and  noble.  Not  a  word 
that  I  may  say,  will,  I  trust,  weaken  an 
ambition  to  ennoble  the  social  conditions 
of  the  future,  or  will  check  a  man  from 
devoting  his  life  to  charities. 

And  yet  these  do  not  strike  me  as  the 
first  or  most  immediate  calls  to  the  men 
of  the  present.  For  what  do  we  find 
as  the  conditions  of  to-day }  This  is, 
for  instance,  an  era  of  commerce  and 
business  ;  farming,  manufacturing,  and 
trading  employ  the  lives  of  the  mass 
of  men,  who  are  called  by  God  and 
by  the  conditions  of  the  times  to  put 
their  lives  into  these  duties.  This  is  an 
age  which  has  been  forced  to  recognize 
the  limitations  of  man's  power  in  what 
are  called  the  laws  of  nature,  of  compe- 
tion,  and  of  demand  and  supply. 

Looked  at  from  one  point  of  view,  it 
sometimes  seems  as  if,  under  these  laws 
and  the  great  movements  of  famines 
and  harvests,  men  were  helpless.      On 

221 


A    SERVANT   OF   HIS    OWN   GENERATION 

the  other  hand,  this  is  an  age  which  has 
called  forth  and  discovered  the  power 
of  man  over  nature.  Through  the  am- 
bition, the  dauntless  courage  and  the 
dominant  will  of  man,  the  world's  surface 
has  been  changed,  and  nature  has  yielded 
her  hoarded  riches.  Behind  the  laws  of 
nature  and  competition,  then,  we  have 
the  spirit  of  man,  who  can  transform  the 
conditions,  guide  the  powers,  and  turn 
what  might  be  scourges  into  blessings. 

The  point,  then,  that  I  am  after  is 
that  the  great  majority  of  you  and  of  all 
young  men  have  got  to  take  up  life  in  its 
present  conditions.  You  have  got  to 
choose  your  calling,  be  a  doctor,  or  a 
lawyer,  or  a  broker,  or  a  manufacturer, 
earn  your  living,  and  take  your  humble 
part  in  the  great  social  organism.  The 
great  work  in  life  will  be,  not  first  to 
change  the  conditions  of  society,  but 
taking  the  conditions  as  they  are,  to 
broaden  and  ennoble  the  life  within 
them.  What  I  urge,  then,  is  a  larger 
conception  of  your  business,  a  broader 
view  of  your  profession. 

Perhaps  I  can  put  it  best  in  this  way. 

There  is,  you  know,  the  popular  dis- 
tinction between  business  and   charity. 


A  SERVANT  OF  HIS  OWN  GENERATION 

A  man  may  be  in  a  position  wherein,  by 
perfectly  legitimate  and  business-like 
methods,  he  may  impoverish  his  neigh- 
bor ;  that  is  business  :  and  then  he  may 
sit  down  and  sign  a  large  check  by 
which  he  may  relieve  that  neighbor  from 
utter  want ;  that  is  charity.  Or  a  doctor 
may  treat  a  patient  and  get  the  largest 
fee  possible ;  that  is  business  :  and  then 
he  may  give  his  services  to  some  poor  pa- 
tient ;  that  is  charity.  Now,  while  there 
is  an  element  of  truth  in  these  distinc- 
tions, I  claim  that  you  cannot  slice  up  a 
man  in  that  way,  and  ticket  his  different 
acts  with  the  labels  of  business  and  char- 
ity. He  is  a  man  ;  and  the  spirit  with 
which  he  conducts  business  or  charity  in- 
fuses all  his  acts.  A  hard,  narrow,  busi- 
ness man  may  give  his  checks  to  the  poor 
every  day,  and  yet  be  lacking  in  the 
deeper  elements  of  a  charitable  spirit ; 
and  a  doctor  may  be  firm  in  his  charges 
to  the  poor,  and  yet  in  the  depth  of 
his  sympathy,  the  devotion  of  his  best 
skill  upon  all  classes,  be  full  of  the  spirit 
of  charity. 

Within  a  week  a  man  has  refused  to 
gain  thousands  of  dollars    in    increased 
rent  by  letting  a  fraction  of  his  building 
223 


A   SERVANT   OF   HIS   OWN   GENERATION 

for  a  bar-room.  It  was  not  business, 
and  it  was  not  charity ;  but  it  was  a  high 
conception  of  wliat  lie  owed  to  his  own 
self-respect  and  to  the  community.  As 
one  of  the  trust  lawyers  of  Boston,  who 
was  also  one  of  the  ornaments  of  a 
governing  Board  of  this  University,  put 
it  some  years  ago  :  "  No  gentleman  rents 
his  buildings  for  a  saloon." 

The  intricacy  of  social  and  business 
life  is  such  that  it  is  very  difficult  to 
place  responsibility.  Some  of  you  may, 
in  a  few  years,  be  directors  of  a  mill  or 
of  a  mine.  As  directors,  you  must  con- 
duct the  business  on  business  principles  ; 
buy  labor  in  the  cheapest  market  and 
make  profits  for  your  stockholders  of 
whom  you  are  one.  Meanwhile,  through 
these  very  business  methods,  the  work- 
ing people  are  being  ground  to  poverty. 
The  community  where  they  live  is  ridden 
with  rum  and  low  political  and  social  life. 
It  is  not  the  business  of  the  directors 
and  stockholders  to  keep  those  people 
clean  and  pure ;  it  is  not  business  to 
build  hospitals  or  provide  them  with  de- 
cent tenements.  And  yet,  as  the  profits 
come  in  part  from  the  labor  of  that 
community,  as  there  is  at  least  a  slight 
224 


A   SERVANT   OF   HIS    OWN   GENERATION 

connection  of  employer  and  employed,  it 
is  the  duty  of  some  one,  —  and  who  more 
than  the  directors  and  stockholders,  not 
as  such,  but  as  men  ?  —  to  take  their  part 
in  the  social  uplifting.  Do  not  under- 
stand me  that  the  work  of  business  and 
social  uplift  can  be  divided  among  the 
mills  and  corporations  and  mines.  I 
have  no  such  dream  as  that.  But  what  I 
do  plead  for  is  that  you,  as  business  men, 
manufacturers,  miners,  and  stockholders, 
will  infuse  into  your  business  more  of 
the  spirit  of  humanity,  of  high  honor 
which  is  more  than  honesty,  and  of  mu- 
tual forbearance  and  helpfulness  which 
is  more  than  what  is  called  charity.  It 
is  well  to  remember  that  to  a  self-respect- 
ing workingman  there  is  nothing  more 
irritating  than  that  he  should  have  favors 
on  the  ground  of  charity  ;  and  also  to 
remember  that  that  same  man  expects 
and  demands  justice,  and  while  demo- 
cracy reigns  he  is  going  to  have  it. 

It  is  one  of  the  great  dangers  of  life 
that  duty  usually  calls  us  to  see  only  one 
or  a  few  phases  of  life  ;  so  that  the  capi- 
talist sees  his  own  interest  and  the  laborer 
his.  It  is  natural  and  it  is  dangerous. 
A  wider  vision,  a  larger  sympathy,  a 
225 


A   SERVANT   OF   HIS   OWN   GENERATION 

nobler  conception  of  his  calling,  are  the 
privileges  of  a  man  of  liberal  education. 
So  that  in  the  service  of  his  generation 
he  gives  to  his  calling,  be  it  medicine, 
law,  business,  or  what  you  will,  a  larger 
meaning,  a  broader  usefulness  and  a 
greater  power. 

I  turn  now  to  the  duty  of  the  educated 
man  in  the  political  life ;  or,  I  should 
rather  say,  his  duty  as  a  patriot. 

You  have  had,  during  these  four  years, 
a  nobler  object-lesson  than  is  given  to 
any  other  university.  To  pass  through 
Memorial  Hall  day  after  day,  to  read  the 
names  upon  the  tablets,  to  look  upon 
the  portraits  of  the  heroes,  is  a  perpetual 
call  to  patriotism.  You  have  missed  the 
inspiration  which  came  to  us  thirty  years 
ago  in  the  drum-beat,  the  sound  of  war, 
the  crippled  soldiers  upon  the  streets, 
the  frequent  cheer,  the  suspense  as  the 
news  of  battle  was  passed  from  mouth 
to  mouth,  the  sorrow,  the  soldiers'  fune- 
rals, the  welcome  home,  the  victories. 
The  blood  moves  quicker  now  as  one  re- 
calls the  news  of  Gettysburg,  Antietam, 
Mobile,  and  Richmond.  The  Harvard 
Memorial  Biographies,  containing  the 
226 


A  SERVANT  OF  HIS  OWN  GENERATION 

lives  of  those  whose  names  are  on  yonder 
tablets,  always  stand  on  the  shelf  at  my 
right  hand,  next  to  my  Bible,  that  in  any 
hour  of  discouragement  I  may  dip  into 
them  and  catch  some  of  their  noble 
spirit. 

Pardon  the  personal  word  ;  but  I  want 
to  make  you  realize  how  Harvard  has 
shed  her  blood  for  the  country. 

"They  served  their  own  generation 
by  the  will  of  God,  and  fell  on  sleep 
and  were  laid  unto  their  fathers."  And 
now  for  ourselves,  and  this  generation, 
what  are  the  calls  to  service  ? 

I  might  tell  you  that  the  educated  and 
privileged  man  is  needed  in  the  political 
life.  I  might  urge  you  to  the  study  of 
political  movements  and  action  in  them. 
I  might  press  you  to  drop  your  chosen 
profession  or  business  and  devote  your- 
self to  the  lifting  of  the  political  life 
from  the  slough  in  which  it  is  flounder- 
ing to-day  —  and  I  would  do  well.  But, 
as  I  suggested  before,  my  thought  to- 
day is  not  for  the  specialists  and  the 
devotees,  but  with  the  great  body  of 
men  who  are  going  to  earn  their  living 
and  do  their  duty  in  the  various  call- 
ings of  life.  What  duties  have  they  as 
227 


A  SERVANT  OF  HIS  OWN  GENERATION 

patriots  ?  What  can  they  do  for  their 
country  ? 

In  the  first  place,  they  are  a  part  of 
the  great  body  of  the  people  who  create 
the  public  sentiment,  who  develop  the 
politicians,  and  who  support  the  leaders. 
Therefore  the  first  and  supreme  duty  is 
that  a  man  have  a  noble  and  high  con- 
ception of  what  a  nation  is,  and  what  his 
country  should  be.  We  have  reached  a 
time  in  the  Christian  era  when  we  are 
outgrowing  the  savage  idea  that  the  truest 
patriot  is  he  who  fights  longest,  oftenest, 
and  latest  for  his  country,  be  she  right 
or  wrong.  Humanity  is  larger  than  the 
nation,  and  though  self-protection  and 
even  increase  of  national  power  may  be 
right,  yet  the  nations  are  the  servants 
of  humanity,  and  their  great  work  is  the 
development  of  a  humanity  that  is  just, 
true,  and  merciful. 

The  true  conception  of  the  nation  is 
not  that  of  physical  force,  armies  or 
wealth,  but  that  of  a  great  people  bound 
together  by  the  strongest  ties  of  justice, 
truth,  and  mercy,  and  pledged  to  act 
with  high  honor  toward  other  nations. 
A  nation,  therefore,  owes  it  to  itself  to 
be  just  and  true  to  the  weakest  people  in 
228 


A   SERVANT   OF   HIS   OWN   GENERATION 

the  world,  even  though  it  be  at  the  cost 
of  pride  and  self-restraint.  For  injus- 
tice will  react  upon  the  character  of  the 
people  and  demoralize  the  nation  itself. 

Your  first  duty,  then,  is  to  see,  as  far 
as  in  you  lies,  that  no  love  of  conquest, 
no  pride  in  a  great  navy,  no  jingoism,  no 
desire  to  act  the  bully,  leads  this  nation 
to  be  unjust,  untrue,  and  unmerciful. 
National  righteousness  first,  the  country 
afterwards. 

Again,  the  foundation  of  our  demo- 
cracy is  trust  in  man,  mutual  confidence 
that  men  will  be  true  to  their  trust.  On 
this  rests  the  sacredness  of  the  ballot. 
If  the  people  once  really  lose  confidence 
in  their  fellow-men,  —  that  the  voter  may 
be  bought,  that  the  alderman  may  be 
bought,  that  the  senator  may  be  bought, 
—  then  will  come  the  time  and  opportu- 
nity for  Caesarism  and  for  government 
by  force. 

Occasionally  we  are  startled  by  rumors 
of  corruption  in  high  places, — by  strong 
evidence,  too,  —  and  then  we  blame  the 
leaders  and  the  politicians.  I  call  you 
back  to  the  thought  that  the  people 
make  the  leaders.  When,  then,  any 
such  flagrant  breach  of  trust  is  known, 
229 


A   SERVANT   OF   HIS   OWN   GENERATION 

first  look  to  yourself  and  to  the  body  of 
the  people.  May  it  not  be  that  the  public 
evil  is  only  a  symptom  of  a  popular  sin 

—  ay,  of  your  own  attitude  ? 

The  director  of  a  corporation,  who  is 
pressing  some  interest  through  the  legis- 
lature, and  who  turns  his  back  and  shuts 
his  eyes  while  some  one  else  carries  it 
through  for  him  (though  he  suspects  or 
he  well  knows,  by  doubtful  methods  or 
by  bribery),  is  the  embodiment  of  the 
worst  spirit  in  our  national  life.  The 
citizens  who  by  evil  compromise  or  in- 
fluence push  their  own  private  interests 
through  our  legislatures  in  spite  of  the 
public  good  represent  the  same  spirit. 
Our  complicated  forms  of  business  make 
it  difficult  to  place  responsibility.  One 
wicked  partner  can  handle  the  doubtful 
work.     Therefore  upon  the  shareholders 

—  in  other  words,  upon  the  great  body  of 
citizens — rests  the  responsibility  that,  so 
far  from  conniving  at  doubtful  methods 
or  being  indifferent  to  them,  they  shall 
be  aggressive  in  their  endeavors  and  de- 
mands that  everything  touching  public 
life  shall  be  above  the  suspicion  of  fraud 
or  bribery. 

The  men  of  one  section  may  be  try- 
230 


A  SERVANT  OF  HIS  OWN  GENERATION 

ing  to  get  something  for  nothing  by 
paying  their  debts  in  silver.  The  men 
of  another  section  may  have  been  getting 
something  for  nothing  by  speculating  in 
Western  lands,  railroads,  and  mines,  and 
by  controlling  the  legislatures.  That 
they  have  lost  as  well  as  gained  does  not 
touch  the  ethics  of  the  question.  The 
weak  spot  has  been  in  the  selfishness 
with  which  self-interest  and  sectional  in- 
terest are  pushed  regardless  of  the  rights 
of  the  whole  people. 

The  life  of  a  private  citizen  as  well  as 
that  of  a  public  man  is  a  trust.  It  is 
due  to  the  community  as  well  as  to  him- 
self that  in  his  personal  relations,  his 
business,  his  expenditures  and  his  luxu- 
ries, the  citizen  does  not  offend  the  con- 
science of  the  people,  nor  rudely  disturb 
the  conventionalities  of  society,  but 
rather,  if  he  be  a  man  of  education,  that 
he  sustain  by  his  own  example  the  con- 
science of  the  people,  making  them  sen- 
sitive to  every  suspicion  of  dishonesty, 
and  leading  them  to  self-restraint,  sim- 
plicity, and  nobility  of  life. 

I  now  come  to  the  suggestion  of  a 
few  of  the  duties  of  the  educated  young 
231 


A  SERVANT   OF   HIS   OWN   GENERATION 

man  in  the  religious  life  of  this  genera- 
tion. 

One  condition  stands  out  clear  in  the 
fundamental  principles  of  our  nation,  — 
the  freedom  of  the  state  from  the  church, 
religious  liberty.  And  the  first  duty  of 
every  citizen  is  to  withstand  every  sug- 
gestion and  every  act  of  legislation 
which  looks  towards  the  patronage  of 
any  form  of  religion  by  the  state. 

Religious  liberty  means  for  the  peo- 
ple responsibility.  Looking  to  the  state 
for  no  aid  nor  recognition,  the  members 
of  the  church  must  look  to  themselves 
if  they  are  to  sustain  and  upbuild  the 
religious  character  of  the  people.  We 
have,  my  friends,  in  this  university  and 
in  New  England  a  noble  religious  inher- 
itance. In  the  stock  and  character  of 
the  people  is  stored  a  rich  capital  of 
spiritual  experience  inherited  from  our 
fathers. 

Three  simple  points  I  want  to  make. 

In  the  first  place :  without  the  sym- 
pathy of  men  of  education,  without  the 
sweet  reasonableness,  the  breadth  of 
vision,  the  patient  love  of  truth,  and 
the  deep-seated  enthusiasm  which  go 
with  culture,  the  religion  of  the  people 
232 


A   SERVANT   OF   HIS   OWN   GENERATION 

will  become  emotional,  vulgar,  and  nar- 
row. 

On  the  other  hand,  without  the  simple 
faith,  the  earnestness,  the  hope  and  the 
devotion  which  go  with  the  religion  of 
the  common  people,  culture  will  lose  its 
virility,  become  over-ripe,  cynical,  and 
nerveless.  Therefore  the  man  of  the 
truest  culture  will  be  the  man  of  the 
deepest  religious  sympathies.  Instead 
of  cutting  down  his  faith  to  its  barest 
elements  and  studying  how  little  he  be- 
lieves, he  will  count  faith  a  noble  thing 
and  see  how  much  he  can  believe.  He 
will  look  at  religion  not  as  a  series  of 
statements,  a  list  of  dogmas,  or  a  bunch 
of  emotions,  but  as  communion  with  the 
great  Spirit  who  embodies  all  truth,  jus- 
tice, and  love ;  every  good  and  every 
perfect  gift  from  science,  from  culture, 
from  history,  and  from  experience  is 
from  Him.  Thus  will  go  hand  in  hand 
the  development  of  character,  of  culture, 
and  of  faith. 

In  the  next  place :  I  warn  you  against 
the  stolid  commercial  spirit  which  is 
liable  to  come  with  middle  age.  Youth 
is  saved  by  its  ideals. 

Twenty  years  hence,  some  of  your 
233 


A   SERVANT   OF   HIS   OWN   GENERATION 

ideals  will  have  been  lost,  some  of  your 
hopes  broken,  and  your  interests  bound 
up  in  making  a  living,  carrying  on  your 
business,  and  satisfying  your  clients. 
Then  the  changes  of  the  market,  the 
newspaper  seven  days  in  the  week,  the 
interest  in  politics,  and  the  small  talk  of 
the  day,  may  gradually  enwrap  you,  and 
you  may  become  one  of  those  stolid, 
uninteresting,  commercial  machines  that 
we  meet  in  the  offices  and  clubs.  I  trust 
not.  To  escape  this,  the  great  truths 
which  are  bound  up  in  religion  must  be 
your  companions.  The  romance  which 
even  in  these  commercial  days  goes  with 
the  life  of  God's  saints  must  move  you. 
The  self-sacrifice,  the  sweet  charity,  and 
the  great  hopes  that  still  fill  the  lives  of 
Christ's  children  must  touch  and  inspire 
you.  No  man  or  community  can  live 
on  the  spiritual  inheritance  of  the  past 
without  becoming  spiritually  bankrupt. 
The  hope  of  the  present  cannot  be  in 
the  religion  of  the  past,  but  in  the  faith 
and  in  the  life  of  the  present. 

In  the  third  place  (and  I  speak  very 

practically) :    if  you  think  thus,  if  you 

believe  that  faith  and  Christ  have  their 

place  in  the  present,  you  have  an  imme- 

234 


A   SERVANT   OF   HIS   OWN   GENERATION 

diate  and  a  life-long  duty,  —  that  of 
expressing  the  faith  in  your  words  and 
character,  that  of  giving  to  the  world 
in  your  life  the  truth,  the  purity,  the 
public  spirit,  and  the  self-sacrifice  of 
Christ  Himself. 

You  may  have  felt,  my  friends,  that 
this  sermon  is  hardly  up  to  the  dignity 
of  a  Baccalaureate ;  it  has  not  treated  of 
great  thoughts  in  a  great  way  as  becomes 
the  close  of  a  university  career.  Cer- 
tainly I  have  felt  it.  And  yet,  even  if  I 
could  have  spoken  with  the  conventional 
dignity  of  such  occasions,  I  would  not. 

No  son  of  Harvard  who  comes  here 
to  speak  to  you  from  the  problems,  the 
sins,  the  needs,  the  heroisms,  and  the 
hopes  of  the  great  body  of  the  people 
can  say  other  than  the  simple,  earnest 
word  that  moves  him. 

Men  of  the  class  of  '94,  the  country 
needs  men  —  pure,  true,  strong,  and 
faithful.  God  help  you  to  be  such.  You 
have  a  few  years  in  which  to  labor,  fight, 
and  conquer  here ;  and  then,  when  life 
is  over,  may  your  Alma  Mater  be  able 
to  bear  witness,  "  He  served  his  own 
generation  by  the  will  of  God." 
235 


Date  Due 

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f) 

